

































I 
















TREATISE 01 HOMILETICS 


DESIGNED TO ILLUSTBATE 


THE TRUE THEORY AND PRACTICE OP PREACHING 
THE GOSPEL. 


By DANIEL P. KIDDER, D.D., 

PROFESSOR IN THE GARRETT BIBLICAL INSTITUTE. 



Ittto gflrh: 

PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PORTER, 

200 M U L B E R R Y - S T E E E T. 

3 /^ 





Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1864, by 

CARLTON & PORTER, 

in the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the 
Southern District of New York. 



r. 

I - 

'/ 



I 










PREFACE. 


The design of this volume is to aid clerical 
students and junior ministers of the Gospel in 
preparing for their life-work. It aims to pre¬ 
sent in a systematic form practical views of 
the subject of preaching, having due reference 
to the experiences of the past, the wants of 
the present, and the hopes of the future. 

While the writer has labored primarily to 
supply a text-book for the use of his own 
students, he has also sought to provide for 
the wants of those candidates for the ministry 
who for any reason pursue homiletical studies 
apart from the advantages of institutional 
instruction. He has been prompted to effort 
in this branch of authorship by many assurances 
that a work like the present was needed to 
supply an important desideratum, and by the 
hope that it may contribute its share to the 
promotion of the noblest objects for which 
men are permitted to live. 

Evanston, III., March 1, 1864. 



Where the development of a systematic doctrine in a course of lec¬ 
tures is attempted, It Is useful for the lecturer to facilitate the labor to 
his pupils and himself by exhibiting In a manual or text-book the order 
of his doctrine and a summary of Its contents.—S Ir William Ham¬ 
ilton. 


In practical art principles are unseen guides, leading us by invisible 
strings through paths where the end alone Is looked at. It is for science 
to direct and purge our vision, so that these airy ties, these principles 
and laws, generalizations and theories, become distinct objects of vision. 
—W h e w e 11. 


They who know how much there is to do with many young men who 
enter our seats of learning, and how much of necessity the time and 
attention must be divided among the various subjects of study, will con¬ 
fess that It is no easy matter to give that prominence to homiletics which 
their supreme importance demands.—John Angell James. 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER 1. 

THE PROPER CHARACTER OF HOMILETICS. 

§ 1. Explanation of Terms .Page 17 

§ 2. Homiletics not a Branch or Species of Rhetoric. 20 

§ 3. A HIGHER Science to which Rhetoric, Logic, and other Sys¬ 
tems OF Human Knowledge are tributary. 21 

§ 4. Distinction between Originality and Novelty. 22 

§ 5. Preaching not a Patriarchal nor a Jewish Institution. 23 

§ 6. Preaching a Peculiar Institution of Christianity. 26 

Its original and authoritative appointment. 26 

Primary ideas of the work of preaching... 28 

The peculiar objects and power of preaehing. 30 

Prerequisites and material of preaching. 32 

§ 7. The Importance of Homiletical Study. 34 

Objections answered. 35 

§ 8. Order and Relations of Homiletical Study. 39 

CHAPTER II. 

SOURCES AND MATERIALS OF HOMILETICAL SCIENCE. 

Biblicali 

§ 1. The Materials OF Homiletical Science Cumulative. 42 

§ 2. Chronological Classification. 43 

§ 3. Classification of Biblical Materials. 44 

§ 4. The Old Testament Instructs the Preacher chiefly by 

Analogous Examples. 44 

Example of Solomon. 44 

Hebrew terms rendered preach . 46 

The teaching office of Jewish priests. 47 

The example of the prophets. 51 

§5. The New Testament abounds IN Homiletical Materials. 54 

§ 6. The Precepts and Instructions of Christ to his Disciples. .. 54 

Call of the disciples . 54 

Preliminary instruction. 55 

Sermon on the mount. 56 

Parables. 57 

Ministry of the disciples commenced. 57 






























6 


CONTENTS. 


Precepts and practice combined.Page 67 

The transfiguration. 58 

The well-instructed scribe. 59 

The germs of truth. Prayer. Gethsemane. 60 

Exposition of Scripture. 61 

The great commission. 62 

§ 7. The Example of Chbist as a Preacher. 63 

Characteristics of Christ’s preaching. 63 

Instructiveness. 64 

Adaptation. 64 

Variety. 65 

Illustrativeness. 66 

Directness or point. 67 

§ 8 . The Examples and Precepts of the Apostles. 68 

Their tireless activity. . 69 

The varied circumstances of their preaching. 70 

The themes and character of their discourses. 71 

A practical comment on the preaching of Christ. 72 

CHAPTER III. 

SOURCES AND MATERIALS OF HOMILETICAL SCIENCE CON¬ 
TINUED. 

Patristic—Scholastic — Modern. 

§ 1. Patristic Literature of Homiletics. 75 

Precepts of Chrysostom. 76 

Summary of Augustine’s “ Christian Teaching”. 78 

§ 2 . Scholastic Literature of Homiletics. 81 

§ 3. Modern Literature of Homiletics. 82 

Comparative value of the literature of the several periods.... 83 

§ 4. Other Sources of Homiletioal Instruction. 85 

Published sermons. 85 

Ministerial biography. 86 

The history of preaching. Its lessons. 88 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE VARIOUS PRODUCTS OP HOMILETICS. 

Diff*erent ages have produced different forms of Christian address. 

§ 1 . Postils—Historic Sketch. 94 

§ 2 . Homilies—Early Origin. 95 

English book of homilies. 95 

The Queen’s injunction. 95 

Continental books of homilies. 9 g 

Modern modifications of the homily. 97 

§ 3. Platform Addresses. 9 g 

A necessity of modern Christian enterprise. . 98 





































CONTENTS. 


7 


Characteristics and elements of success.Page 100' 

Jay’s objection. Eemark. loi 

I 4. Exhoetation. 101 

A species of preaching.102 

Scriptural idea of exhortation. 103 

Apostolic examples. 103 

Inferences. 105 

The gift of exhortation should be coveted. 105 

It should be acquired as initiatory to preaching. 106 

Occasions for exhortation. 109 

S 6 . The Seemon.110 

Belongs to all periods. Its offices. 110 

A representative product of homiletics.Ill 

CHAPTER V. 

TEXTS OF SCRIPTUEE AS THE THEMES OP SERMONS. 

§ 1. The Peopeiety%of theie Use. 113 

Analogy of Jewish custom. 114 

Of the Saviour’s example. 115 

The practice of the apostles and fathers. 116 

Inherent fitness of the custom. 116 

§ 2 . The Object of employing Texts.117 

To make a suitable recognition of God’s word. 117 

To secure a valid basis for the instruction of men. 117 

The use of texts tends to variety in preaching. 118 

Texts aid the memory and promote the thoughtfulness of 

hearers. 118 

The abuse of texts. 119 

§ 3. Texts should be chosen with caee and solicitude. 120 

§ 4. Judicious Habits of selection should be cultivated.120 

In aminister’s critical and devotional reading of the Scriptures. 121 

By special search.121 

By classification.121 

Guiding principles. 123 

§ 5. Eules foe the choice of Texts. 125 

Preach on great subjects. 127 

CHAPTER VI. 

AGENCIES OF PULPIT PREPARATION. 

§ 1. Geneeal Views of the Subject.128 

Mental preparation. 129 

Lingual preparation. 129 

Successive steps. 129 

§ 2. Inteepeetation. 132 

Importance of interpretation. Biblical study. 132 

Eules of interpretation... 133 

Practical advices. 134 









































8 


CONTEl^TS. 


§ 3 . Intention ...... Page 135 

The special faculties of knowledge. 13^ 

Offices of the imagination. 139 

Processes of invention. 141 

Generalization. 148 

Analysis. 149 

Hypothesis. 149 

Comparison............. 159 

Exercise. 151 

Practical rules. 152 

§4. Disposition. 153 

Its nature. 153 

Its importance. 155 

Its general offices. 156 

CHAPTER VII. 

DISPOSITION APPLIED TO THE PRINCIPAL PARTS OF A 

DISCOURSE. 

Ancient systems of disposition. 160 

Explanation of terms. 160 

Comprehensive character of the argument..161 

§ 1. The Introduction. 162 

Two kinds, formal and informal. Occasions for informal.... 162 

Design of an introduction. 164 

Different kinds.. 164 

Desirable qualities.164 

Materials for introduction. 167 

Order of preparation. 167 

§ 2. The Argument. 169 

Confusion of authors in respect to disposition,-division, etc.. 169 

Proper relations of the text and the theme or subject...171 

Tabular view of the sermon and its parts. 172 

Different modes of discussion distinguished. 174 

Explanatory discussion. 177 

Definition. Narration. Description. Exemplification 178-180 

Observational discussion. 181 

Propositional discussion. 184 

Applicatory discussion. The field of persuasion. 187 

CHAPTER VIII. 

HOMILETICAL PRAXIS ON THE ARGUMENT. 

Nature and importance of Praxis. 195 

Generalization. I 97 

Division. Tabular view. 198,199 

General rules of division. 200 





































CONTENTS. 


9 


§ 1 . Textual Division ..Page 201 

Natural order. 202 

Analytical. 203 

Synthetical. 205 

§2. Topical Division..... 206 

Present use of the term topical not drawn from the loci com¬ 
munes of the ancients. 206 

Advantages of topical division. 208 

Principal modes. 209 

By analysis. 210 

By relations. 211 

By illustration. 211 

By exhibition of motives. 212 

By proofs. 213 

Eolations between division and discussion. 214 

The uses of division. 215 

Abuses of division. 217 

Question of the statement of divisions. 217 

Kules. 220 

CKAPTER IX. 

THE CONCLUSION. 

Importance of conclusions. 222 

Their proper design. 223 

§ 1. The Matter APPBOPRiATE TO Conclusions. 224 

Inferences. Eecapitulation. Appeal. Exhortation. 224,225 

Ehetorical advices as to excitation. 225 

Devotional expressions. 227 

A striking passage of Scripture. Prayer. Doxology. 227,228 
§ 2. Essential Characteristics of Conclusions. 229 

CHAPTER X. 

ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF THE SERMON AS A WHOLE. 

§ 1. Evangelical Character. 233 

As to the truth employed. As to the spirit and manner of 
its delivery. Historical proof of its importance. 233-238 

% 2. Interest. 

Necessity of awakening interest in religious themes. 239 

Means of so doing. 240 

Be deeply interested yourself. 240 

Cultivate clearness and vividness of expression.242 

Acquire felicity, and practice frequency of illustration. 243 



































10 


CONTENTS. 


To this end study the laws of figurative language-Page 244 

Learn the uses of simile and metaphor. 245 

Employ illustrations from analogy. 247 

Employ appropriate scriptural and historical allusions by 

statements of fact and hypothesis. 249 

Kules in reference to illustration. 251 

§ 3. Instkuction. 253 

Its indispensable importance—contemplated in the original 

command of the Saviour. 253 

In order to it ministers must be constant learners. 253 

They must form systematic and comprehensive plans of in¬ 
struction. 254 

§ 4. Efficiency. 255 

Preaching contemplates certain great objects. 255 

The diffusion of truth and consequent overthrow of error.. 255 

The conversion of souls. 255 

The practice of righteousness. 256 

The establishment and edification of the Church of Christ. 256 
No preaching eflicient which does not accomplish one or 

more of these objects. 256 

Elements of efficiency.'... 258 

Earnestness. 258 

Christian sympathy. 260 

Unction. 262 


CHAPTER XI. 

THE CLASSIFICATION OF SERMONS. 

Advantages of classification. 267 

Proper basis of classification. 268 

§ 1 . Expository Discourses. 269 

§ 2 . Hortatory Discourses. 372 

§3. Doctrinal Discourses. 274 

§ 4. Practical Discourses.276 

§ 5. Miscellaneous or Occasional Discourses. 278 

Funerals. 279 

Special providences.. 281 

Missions and benevolence. 281 

Festival occasions. 283 

Temperance. 283 

Education and Sunday-schools. 284 

Preaching to children. 284 

Eeasons why they should be the special subjects of preaching 286 

Two modes: 1. Children’s department in sermons. 286 

2. Special sermons to children. 288 

Elements of success in preaching to the young. 288, 289 




































CONTENTS. 


11 


CHAPTER XII. 

THE STYLE OF SERMONS. 

Style a means, not an end.Page 292 

General qualities demanded in a good style. 292 

Purity. Precision. Perspicuity. Unity. Strength_ 292, 293 

§ 1. Special Qualities required in a good Pulpit Style . 293 

Dignified simplicity. 293 

Scriptural congruity. 296 

Earnest directness.. 299 

Energy.300 

§ 2. Means of cultivating a good Pulpit Style . 302 

Conversation.. 302 

A careful study of the elements and lexicography of one’s 

native language. 303 

Beading and study of the best authors. 304 

Writing.305 


CHAPTER XIH. 

THE DELIVERY OF SERMONS. 

§ 1. Possible Modes considered.:.307 

Eecitation. Advantages and disadvantages. 307 

Beading. Arguments in favor of reading. 310 

Objections to reading as a mode of delivery. 311 

Extemporaneous delivery. 312 

Objections urged against it. 313 

Arguments for it. 314 

A composite mode of delivery. 314 

§ 2 . Historical View of the Practice and Theories of Past 

Ages in reference to this Subject. 316 

Sermons not read during the apostolic era. 317 

Extemporaneous discourse practiced during the early ages of 

the Church...*. 318 

The custom of reciting sermons introduced in the fourth 

century. 320 

Becitation retained in the Continental Churches. 322 

The custom of reading arose in England about the middle of 

the sixteenth century. 324 

Beading has since prevailed somewhat extensively in England 

and in the United States of America. 325 

The verdict of ages in favor of extemporaneous delivery ren¬ 
dered as perfect as possible by auxiliary writing. 326 






























12 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER XIV. 

PULPIT ELOCUTION. 


§ 1. Its lifPOBTANCB AS THE EXECUTIVE Bbanoh OF HoMiLETics. Page 829 

% 2. Faults to be Avoided .332 

Awkwardness. 332 

Carelessness. 332 

Haughtiness and harshness. 333 

Formality. 333 

Levity. 333 

Monotony and dullness. 334 

§ 3. Excellences to be Acquibed . 334 

Ease and refinement of manners. Self-possession and seren¬ 
ity of mind. Gravity. Affectionate anxiety. Earnestness 835 

§4. Means of Attaining a good Pulpit Elocution. . 335 

Thorough mental cultivation .... 335 

Systematic training of the voice and other physical powers.. 335 
A proper discipline of the heart as a means of developing the 
moral power of the preacher. 338 


CHAPTER XY. 

HABITS OF PREPARATION FOR PREACHING. 


Importance of right views of the subject.. 340 

§ 1. Pbeliminaby Pbepabation involves : 

Moral preparation.. 341 

Educational preparation. Embracing ^ 

Mental discipline. 342 

The acquisition of large stores of knowledge. 342 

A special development of the powers of expression........ 342 

Eule. First, acquire readiness; second, correctness; third, 

force. 346 

§ 2. Genebal Pbepabation should be Continuous and Habitual. 347 
§ 3. Special Pbepabation bequibes 

The study of subjects for particular occasions. 348 

The careful elaboration of a plan of discourse. 349 

Detailed composition in writing. 354 

Advantages of writing. 355 

As a means of self-discipline and of thought. 355 

Writing improves the style of a speaker. 356 

It enables him to profit by his past labors. 357 

It becomes a means of extending his usefulness.358 

Wrong habits of writing. 358 




























CONTENTS. 


13 


Rules to aid in forming correct habits... Page 358 

Extract from Olin...361 

The proper use of plans.... 363 

Special preparation for reading and recitation... 364 


CHAPTER XVI. 

PREACHING AS A PASTORAL DUTY. 


Peculiar position of a young pastor.. 366 

Propriety of introductory sermons. 366 


The great objects of the true pastor are: 

§ 1. The Edification of the Chukch promoted by 

Ministrations suited to individuals and classes of believers... 367 
The thorough instruction of the Church as an organic body.. 368 


Necessity and advantages of pastoral visitation. 368, 369 

§ 2 . The Conversion of the Unregenerate, requiring 

Faithfulness in declaring the whole counsel of God. 369 

Discrimination in applying it to characters. 370 

Accompanying labors, conversations, and appeals. 370 


Both these objects are to be aimed at in conjunction, and 
continuously by means of wise plans and persevering zeal. 370 


CHAPTER XVH. 

PREACHING AS A MISSIONARY DUTY. 

Peculiarities of mission-work in foreign and domestic fields. 373 

§ 1. Pastors should cultivate the Missionary Spirit, and put 
FORTH Missionary Efforts as they may have occasion 
AMONG Soldiers, Seamen, Prisoners, and other Neg¬ 
lected Classes. 374 

They should extend their labors to 

Neglected neighborhoods. 375 

Haunts of dissipation, streets, and market-places. 375 

Camp-meetings, etc. 375 

Biblical examples of outdoor preaching... 375 

Methodistic examples.... 375 

§ 2. Qualifications essential to Success . 376 


CHAPTER XVIII. 

PROPRIETIES AND VICES OP THE PULPIT. 


Necessity to ministers of an acute sense of propriety............. 378 

§ 1. Proprieties. ........... 378 

Proprieties relating to individual conduct in the sacred desk 379 

Auxiliaiy services of the pulpit... 881 

Ministerial courtesy.. 383 

§ 2 . Vices of the Pulpit.386 

Plagiarism: 1 . Of sermons 5 2 . Of extracts; 3. Of plans; 

4 . By imitation. 386-388 


























14 


CONTENTS. 


Indolence of preparation.Page 389 

Starring, coarseness, vulgarity, etc. 389, 390 

Witticism. Authorities on the subject. 391 

The affectation of profundity. 395 

Tediousness. 396 

CHAPTER XIX. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OP ELOQUENCE CONSIDERED IN REFER¬ 
ENCE TO PREACHING. 

Intrinsic interest of the subject. 397 

§ 1. Vakious Definitions of the Term. 397 

§ 2. Analysis of the true Idea of Eloquence.400 

Eloquence not a unit. It differs in kinds and degrees.401 

§ 3. The Term applied by eminencejto the highest Degrees.403 

Daniel Webster’s explanation of eloquence.403 

§ 4. The Themes and Circumstances of the Preacher favorable 

TO the attainment of the highest results of Eloquence. 404 

CHAPTER XX. 

CONDITIONS AND ELEMENTS OF POWER IN THE PULPIT. 

1. Strong conceptions of the magnitude and dignity of the preach¬ 

er’s work.409 

2. A love for his work. 410 

3. A manifestation of that love by zeal and faithfulness. 411 

4. Preaching must be the great business of life.411 

5. The purpose and habit of making everything subservient to 

preaching. 412 

6. Discretion in the choice and adaptation of subjects.412 

7. A higher aim than mere success. 414 

8. A holy life and influential example. 414 

9. The spirit and practice of deep devotion. 414 

10. The blessing and unction of the Holy Ghost. 415 

CHAPTER XXI. 

DIVINE ASSISTANCE IN PREACHING. 

Erroneous views. The true principle. 418 

§ 1. The Nature of the Work renders Special Divine Assistance 

PROBABLE.. 

It is God’s work. It is great and difficult. Man’s unaided 

ability is inadequate to its right performance.417 

§ 2. The Scriptures make it certain that Divine Assistance will 

BE given on appropriate CONDITIONS.418 

Indirect promises.. 




























CONTENTS. 


15 


Direct promises.Page 419 

Prayers for aid.421 

Ac^owledgements of aid.421 

Other proofs that aid was given the apostles.421 

§ 3. The Expebienoe op Devout Ministeks in all Ages shows 

THAT SmiLAB AlD IS NEEDED, MAT BE EXPECTED, AND SHOULD 
BE SOUGHT BY ALL WHO HOPE TO PbEAOH THE GoSPEL EFFECT- 

rvELT.422 

Point of union between natural efforts and supernatural aid.42^ 

CHAPTER XXII. 

PUBLIC PRATER AS A BRANCH OF PULPIT SERVICE. 

Eesponsibility of ministers as to the right conduct of the devo¬ 
tions of the Sanctuary.426 

§ 1. Cebtain Faults of Public Pbayeb. 427 

As to the use of the voice. 427 

As to matter. 428 

As to manner and spirit.428 

As to language. 429 

Too great length. Attitude, gesture, etc.429 

§ 2 . Qualities essential to Excellence. 430 

As to matter, spirit, and language.430 

§ 3. Means of attaining Excellence.431 

Study of the nature and elements of prayer.431 

Capacity to employ appropriate Scripture language. 431 

Deep personal piety cultivated by habitual private devotion. 433 
Mechtation and devotional composition.433 


APPENDIX. 

A. 

SOHOLASTIO LiTEBATUBE OF HoMILETIOS. 487 

B. 

The Modebn Litebatube of Homiletics .489 

Books in Latin.439 

Books in English.440 

Chronological list of authors on the subject of preaching .... 440 

Pulpit helps. 452 

Note on published sermons.454 

Note on clerical biography.456 

Articles in reviews and periodicals.456 

Books in French. 

German authors. 

Portuguese, Spanish, and Italian authors. ^8 

































16 


CONTENTS. 


c. 

Summary of the views of leading Divines, Authors, and 

Churches on the Mode of Preaching with reference to 

Delivery .Page 464 

1692. Bishop Burnet. Dr. Watts. Eichard Baxter. 464r-468 

1703. John Edwards.468 

1731. Sir Eichard Blackmore.468 

1756. Dr. Doddridge. 468 

1758. John Lawson.468 

1766. Archbishop Seeker..469 

1772. Thomas Gibbons .. 469 

1776. George Campbell.470 

1798. John Smith...470 

Testimonies of the Nineteenth Century. 471 

Sidney Smith. Edward Everett. 472, 473 

The Church of England.473 

Eev. D. Moore. 473 

The Independents of England. 476 

William Jay. Eobert Vaughn. T. Wallace. 476, 477 

English Baptists.478 

English Wesleyans. 478 

The Free Scotch Church. 479 

American Churches. 479 

Unitarians. 479 

Congregationalists.479 

Baptists. 480 

Dr. Wayland. 480 

Presbyterians, Old School. 485 

Eesolutions of the General Assembly, with comments.485 

Presbyterians, New School. 488 

Dr. Skinner...488 

Methodists. 489 

Extemporaneous delivery the general practice of powerful 
preachers. 489 

D. 

Example of the Classification and Paraphrase of Scripture 

UNDER THE VARIOUS HeADS OF PrAYER. 490 

Invocation. 490 

Adoration. 491 

Thanksgiving. 49 I 

Confession. 492 

Petition and supplication. 493 

Self-dedication. 494 

Blessing and praise. 494 








































A TREATISE ON HOMILETICS. 


CHAPTER I. 

THE PROPER CHARACTER OF HOMILETICS. 

§1. Explanation of Terms. 

The term Homiletics has been adopted in our lan¬ 
guage as the only single word which embraces in its 
signification all that relates to preaching, whether 
regarded as a science or an art. It is analogous to 
mathematics, optics, metaphysics, and other scientific 
terms similarly derived from the Greek which, in the 
English language, take a plural form with a singular 
or integral signification. 

In the German the word Homiletih^ and in the 
French Homiletiqi^e, alike derived from the Greek 
duLXrfrtKog, and having precisely the same nieaning as 
our word Homiletics, preserve the singular ending, 
as do logic and rhetoric in our language. 

The word dfitXog, in classic Greek, signified a 
crowd or assembly of people, and in early Christian 
usage it came to represent an assembly for worship. 

The corresponding verb, 6(itXeo)j signified to con¬ 
verse or communicate freely with individuals or 
assemblies. Hence the addresses most frequently 
made to Christian assemblies were denominated 




18 


ETYMOLOGY OF TEEMS. 


ofjLiXiat, or homilies. The same word was promptly 
transferred to the Latin, becoming homilia, and 
with scarcely any variation in form has been adopted 
in all those modern languages which have a Chris¬ 
tian literature. The generic term homiletics is a 
Homiletics a natural outgrowth of such a root. It 
generic term, adoptcd cotcmporaueously with a 

similar terminology of various other sciences and 
departments of science, and being closely identified 
with the history of preaching, is not likely to be 
superseded. 

Elforts have been made to throw ridicule upon the 
term homiletics, and also upon the study of the sci¬ 
ence which it indicates, in the idea that it necessa¬ 
rily involves stiff formalities and inflexible rules 
which tend rather to encumber than profit the 
preacher. Such efforts appear in their true light 
when we consider that no science should be dis¬ 
carded because it has been taught in an imperfect or 
mistaken manner. On this point, it may be re¬ 
marked that while the mistakes of science can hardly 
ever be greater than the errors of ignorance, yet the 
true office of science in this as in all other spheres is 
to correct mistakes by showing the reasons on which 
both right and wrong practice are based. While, 
therefore, the term homiletics is not to be discarded, 
yet its use need not be too frequent. Other terms, 
for the sake of variety and convenience, although 
not perfect synonyms, may often be used in its 
stead. 

Peeaching, as one of the principal forms of Chris¬ 
tian address, and specially as the term most fre¬ 
quently employed in our version of the Scriptures 
to indicate speech for evangelical purposes, is often 
used in a generic sense, on the principle of a 


PREACHING. 


19 


part representing tlie whole. The word 
preach is derived from the Latin prceco^ a equivalents, 
herald or public crier, and is applicable rather to the 
act of the preacher than to the product of his mind 
or his voice. A minister of the Gospel preaches ser¬ 
mons, he utters exhortations, and he delivers homilies 
or lectures. Yet he performs all these duties in his 
capacity of preacher, and we speak of his preaching 
in the aggregate as comprising them all. 

As the term oratory is used generically with refer¬ 
ence to secular eloquence, so, by analogy, the term 
Christian oratory may he used to comprehend 
every species of good speaking employed in the advo¬ 
cacy of Christian truth. 

It has not been usual in England and America to 
apply the term science to preaching; partly, it is 
believed, owing to misconceptions as to the true 
classification of the subject, and partly from the 
irregular manner in which preaching has been 
taught and studied. As, however, science signifies 
knowledge, and implies a systematic arrangement of 
what is known on a given subject, there appears no 
reason why the term may not he applied to preach¬ 
ing as well as to interpretation, or any other topic 
of sacred study.* Let no one suppose that the use 
of this term indicates any disposition to lower preach¬ 
ing to a level with human sciences. It rather aims to 
rescue it from the doubtful position it has too often 
been made to occupy, as among the accidents of cleri¬ 
cal education, or a mere appendage of rhetoric, and 
to place it in its true light as a science originated 


* Homiletics, signifying the science of preaching, is strictly analogona 
to Hermeneutics, signifying the science of interpretation. Systenaatic 
theology also employs the following ,p,nalogou8 terms, severally derived 
from the Greek: Apologetics, Dogmatics, Polemics, etc. 


20 ERRONEOUS VIEWS CONSIDERED. 

by tbe great Teacher, and illustrated by Christian 
experience in the successive ages of the Church. 

§2. Homiletics not a Branch or Species of 
Khetoric. 

A common and long-standing injustice has been 
done to this subject by treating it as merely a branch 
of rhetoric. The efficiency of preaching has been 
curtailed during successive ages by too servile an 
adherence to the formulae and irrelevant precepts of 
systematic rhetoricians. The error from which such 
results have followed dates back to the fourth cen¬ 
tury, a period in which external prosperity became a 
snare to the Church in many respects, and when 
some of the prominent Church fathers sought to im¬ 
prove upon the simplicity of Christian teaching by 
arraying it in the adornments of pagan rhetoric. 
This mistake, under various modifications, has been 
so far perpetuated that even now many seem to 
suppose that rhetoric, having been perfected in 
ancient times, moderns, and even Christian minis¬ 
ters, are to find their highest teachings in the systems 
of Aristotle, Cicero, and Quintilian. 

Thus Yinet says, “ Rhetoric is the genus, homilet¬ 
ics the species;” Porter speaks of ‘‘sacred rhetoric, 
including homiletics and preaching;” Ripley has 
written a book on “ Sacred Rhetoric;” and various 
theological institutions have professorships of sacred 
rhetoric, designed to cover the whole ground of hom¬ 
iletics. Most writers on rhetoric make a similar dis¬ 
tribution of our theme; and while Christian ministers 
treat of the composition and delivery of sermons as 
constituting the whole work of the preacher, rhetori¬ 
cians, making three classes of orations, deliberative, 
judicial, and demonstrative, assign to the sermon its 


TKUE BELATIONS OF RHETORIC. 


21 


place as a species of tlie latter, tlius subordinating 
Christian eloquence to an inferior position. 

A just view of this subject will show that rhetoric 
itself is a progressive science, an outgrowth of lan¬ 
guage and human experience. It was highly culti¬ 
vated indeed in Greece and Rome, but is nevertheless 
subject to its most perfect development as a result of 
Christian progress. With all that has opp„it. ,1.™ 
been written on the subject there is not 
even yet an agreement among rhetoricians as to what 
constitutes the proper character of rhetoric itself. 
One class treat it as an independent science, embrac¬ 
ing in its relations and within its laws every species 
of human language. Another class, of whom is 
Whately, following Aristotle, treat it as the art of 
persuasion, “ an offehoot of logic.” It may be readily 
and justly inferred that the Divine Author of preach¬ 
ing did not appoint an agency for the renovation of 
the world which could with any propriety be regarded 
as a mere addendum to rhetoric, or indeed any sys¬ 
tem of human science. 

§ 3. A HIGHER Science to which Rhetoric, Logic, 

AND other Systems of Human Knowledge are 

tributary. 

Preaching is to be regarded as preeminently a re¬ 
ligious agency appointed by the Saviour of the world 
as a means of rescuing men from error and sin, and 
teaching them the way of life and immortality. It is 
a human exponent of the divine plan of salvation. In 
this distinctive character it was employed by Christ 
and enjoined upon his disciples. 

Its essential character and its fundamental designs 
were therefore impossible of conception Rhetori- 
to the masters of ancient rhetoric. Of 


22 


PEEACHING OEIGINAL. 


these it may be well to remember that the most dis¬ 
tinguished lived before the Christian era. Isocrates 
flourished 436 B. C., Aristotle 384 B. C., and Cicero 
lOY B. C.; while Quintilian, who in respect to orig¬ 
inality was a mere echo of those who had preceded 
him, wrote A. D. 42. 

The Lord Jesus Christ quoted none of these authors, 
studied none of their works, and yet ‘‘he spake as 
never man spake.” Himself the author of truth, he 
had no occasion to go to heathen sages as a copyist, 
nevertheless, it was within his plan and province to 
avail himself of knowledge and truth wherever found. 
Hence the literary preparation of the world for the 
Saviour’s advent was as signiflcant as the political. 
The fact that the Gospel was written and preached 
in that very Grecian language in which both rhetoric 
and logic had received their highest cultivation, 
clearly indicates that Christianity was designed to 
avail itself as a tributary of whatever good thing 
science and culture had prepared to its hand. 

§ 4. Distinction between Okiginality and 
Hovelty. 

It is an error to suppose that nothing is original 
which is not in its elements novel, or at least new. 
Originality consists in being flrst in order. To main¬ 
tain the originality of an invention, it is only neces¬ 
sary to show that its principle or that the combina¬ 
tion of its materials was unknown before. Thus new 
inventions in the arts are continually arising. 

So in reference to preaching as appointed by 
Christ; human speech, a capacity cotemporaneous 
with the existence of the race, was exalted to a new 
office, and in a new combination with divine truth 
and human experience was adopted as the great 


A NEW AND IMPORTANT AGENCY. 


23 


agency for the promotion of the Gospel agency 
in the world. Under the working of a of speech, 
newly developed principle, a distinguishing attribute 
of humanity was ordained to serve as a chosen in¬ 
strumentality for the salvation of men. This, too, 
was in accordance with another important act of the 
divine administration. When God saw fit to appoint 
a token of his covenant not to destroy the earth 
again by a flood, he did not create a new emblem 
for that purpose. He designated a product of the 
existing laws of nature. He set his bow in the cloud 
to be that token. From that moment the rainbow 
was invested with a new and peculiar significance. 
Its appointment as a bow of promise was original, 
although the bow itself was as ancient as the morn¬ 
ing of creation. 

Thus when the Saviour designated as a principal 
agency for the evangelization of the world the com¬ 
mon power of human speech, so original and appar¬ 
ently simple was the appointment that it was scoffed 
at by both Jews and Greeks as absurdly inadequate 
to such a purpose. Nevertheless, it was in this pre¬ 
cise manner that “ God made foolish the wisdom of 
this world.” “For after that in the wisdom of God 
the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God 
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that 
believe.” 1 Cor. i, 20, 21. 

§5. Preaching not a Patriarchal nor a Jew¬ 
ish Institution. 

The chief allusions to preaching in the Old Testa¬ 
ment are prophetic of the Saviour and his mission. 
The most striking are found in Isaiah: “ How beau¬ 
tiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that 
bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that 


24 


PEEACHING NOT PATKIAKCHAL. 


bringeth good tidings of good, that publisbetli salva¬ 
tion.” lii, 7. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon 
me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach 
good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind 
up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the cap¬ 
tives, and the opening of the prison to them that are 
bound; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” 
Ixi, 1,2. 

The Church, in successive ages has interpreted 
these and kindred passages as solely applicable to the 
Messiah and the preaching of his Gospel, and not to 
anything known under the Jewish dispensation. The 
term preacher is, indeed, applied to Solomon in a 
single book of the Old Testament, and by the New 
Testament to the antediluvian patriarch Noah. 

Noah’s specific office was to.forewarn men of the 
flood. In this respect he was alone, and we are not 
authorized by the Scripture record to infer that dur¬ 
ing the patriarchal age any systematic public efforts 
for the promotion of truth were appointed or prac¬ 
ticed. Enoch, according to the Apostle Jude, 
“prophefied” of the judgment; but the teaching 
office among the patriarchs was exercised chiefly 
through the agency of tradition. 

The sense in which Solomon applied to himself 
preaoiiing proper the term Ecclesiastes, or preacher, will be 

unknown among , • i t ’ 

the Jews. shown in chapter second. He was a 
moralist, and taught the people in proverbs. His 
father David had impressed and cheered them with 
lyrics. Both characters were peculiar, and without 
successors either among the kings or people of the 
Jewish nation. 

While the Old Testament applies the term preacher 
to no Jew besides Solomon, it represents Jonah as 
appointed to preach to Nineveh the preaching that 


NOT JEWISH. 


25 


the Lord bade him. The verse Jonah iii, 2 might 
justly have been rendered ‘‘ proclaim to it the proc¬ 
lamation that I bid thee.” Here we reach the im- 
portant fact that the Jewish prophets, 
although not preachers in a proper sense, w^ogous. 
formed a class of religious teachers whose office was, 
in several respects, analogous to that of preachers 
under the Christian dispensation. This analogy is 
clearly recognized by our Saviour in his allusion to 
the men of Hineveh, who, said he, ‘‘ repented at the 
preaching of Jonas; and behold, a greater than 
Jonas is here.” Matt, xii, 41; Luke xi, 32. 

It is worthy of remark that this is the only expres¬ 
sion of Christ which attributes preaching to any of 
the worthies of the Old Testament, and the following 
statement in this case marks broadly the difference 
between the simple warning of Jonah to the Hine- 
vites and the preaching which Christ came to insti¬ 
tute, namely, ‘‘ Good tidings of great joy, which shall 
be to all people.” Luke ii, 10. 

While, therefore, by analogy we may learn some 
valuable lessons from the lives and labors of the Jew¬ 
ish prophets, (vide chapter ii, §4,) we can only rec¬ 
ognize them as occasional and extraordinary messen¬ 
gers sent with special warnings and predictions to 
admonish mankind of the will and authority of God. 

Judaism was eminently a religion of ceremonies. 
In its tabernacle and temple centered its power. The 
Levites who performed its ceremonial services were 
priests, not preachers. Their business was to offer 
sacrifices typical of Christ; a duty which came to an 
end when the great Sacrifice was offered, and conse¬ 
quently could have no perpetuation in the Christian 
Church. 

Having thus surveyed the ground, we find that 


26 


PBEACHING ESSENTIALLY 


neither the patriarchal nor the Jewish dispensations 
possessed or recognized such an institution as that of 
preaching. Hence, if we speak of “ the preachers of 
the Old Testament,” it should be understood that we 
call them such by analogy only.* 

§6. Preaching a Peculiar Institution of 
Christianity. 

ITS ORIGINAL AND AUTHORITATIVE APPOINTMENT. 

It has never been claimed that preaching belonged 
to any form of heathenism, and the foregoing remarks 
show that it was neither an institution of patriarch- 
ism nor of Judaism. In accordance with these facts 
the Hew Testament proves it to have originated with 
Christianity as one of the leading characteristics of 
the new dispensation. What can be found in no an¬ 
tecedent history there stands forth as a familiar fact. 

John the Baptist slightly anticipate'd the mission 
of the great preacher, Crying in the wdlderness of 
Judea and preaching the baptism of repentance but 

* As the doctrine of this section differs from commonly received 
opinion, it may be corroborated by an extract that has come to the 
author’s attention since the foregoing section was written: 

“ The inspired men under the Old Testament did not preach. They 
proclaimed the will of God in a variety of forms. Moses enacted stat¬ 
utes, prescribed and predicted national results as patriot and legislator; 
Joshua after his sword was sheathed swore the nation to fidelity ; Sam¬ 
uel judged and taught with divine authority; David sang as saint 
and king, and gave iitterance to emotions common to the Church in 
every age ; Elijah challenged and battled for God in days of idolatrous 
degeneracy; Solomon embodied his experience in pithy and pointed 
sentences. The prophets, as a body, portrayed present obligation and 
future crises. The burdens pronounced by Isaiah ring over Babylon, 
sweep through the wilderness, and are borne up the Nile. 

“ Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel interest themselves with national affairs 
and theocratic history. Obadiah seals the fate of Edom, and Haggai and 
Malachi censure the selfishness of their age. 

“These old seers foretold Messiah, but did not exhibit him. They 
pictured him, but did not preach him.”— Eadie. 


CHKISTIAN. 


27 


it was reserved for Christ himself to institute by his 
own example the practice of preaching the Gospel. 
At the very commencement of his public ministry 
it is recorded of him, (Matt, iv, 17,) “ From that time 
Jesus began to preach, and to say. Repent: for the 
kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 

Immediately thereafter we have the record of his 
great inaugural discourse, the Sermon on the Mount, 
following which notices of Christ’s preaching are fre¬ 
quent throughout the evangelical history. 

His own conception of the magnitude of his mis¬ 
sion in this respect appears from Luke iv, 43: “And 
he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God 
to other cities also therefore am I sent. And he 
preached in the synagogues of Galilee.” Hot only did 
Christ himself preach, but he appointed his disciples to 
preach also. He sent them forth saying, ye go, 
jyreach?'^ In the great task thus assigned them it was 
a prominent part of Christ’s earthly mission to in¬ 
struct his disciples both by example and precept, un¬ 
til finally, after his resurrection, he gave them as his 
farewell injunction the great commission, ye into 
all the world, and preach the Gospel to every crea- 
ture.^^ 

Private and public speech, even rhetoric and ora¬ 
tory, had been in the world anterior to this, but noth¬ 
ing like the institution of preaching. Judicial, de¬ 
liberative, and forensic eloquence had been highly 
cultivated at Greece and Rome, and also philosophic 
teaching; but the former were confined to tribunes, 
senates, and forums, and the latter to academic 
shades. Here was a new and broader field opened for 
eloquence. Preaching was appointed for preaching de- 
the world, and preachers were made debt- wOTidViL''® 
ors of the Gospel to every human being, 


28 


A PERPETUAL INSTITUTION, 


whetlier Jew or Gentile, high or low, rich or poor, 
bond or free. 

The peculiarity of preaching is seen not only in the 
originality, but also in the authority of its appoint¬ 
ment as an institution of the Christian Church. 
Christ did not recommend preaching as other teachers 
might have done, to be continued or not, at the op¬ 
tion of his followers. He commanded and it stood 
fast.” It was not an institution that, like others of 
human invention, would become obsolete in the lapse 
of time. The very terms of its appointment implied 
continuance, and the event has shown it. 

Since the days of Christ the forums of Greece and 
Rome have perished, and the systems of their wisest 
philosophers have passed away; but the preaching of 
the Gospel has continued, and so multiplied itself 
that it more nearly fills the world than any system of 
teaching or of influencing mankind has ever done. 
And still this great function of the Christian ministry 
has a world-wide field open before it, and demanding 
its increased and most efficient exercise. 

PEIMAEY IDEAS OE THE WOEK OE PEEACHING. 

The original terms of the Hew Testament illus¬ 
trate suggestively the most important ele- 

Original terms. i i 

ments oi the preachers work. Fore¬ 
most among them is from which we derive 

the English word evangelize. It is the verb of 
evayye?uov^ which we render gospel, meaning origin¬ 
ally glad tidings, and by usage the peculiar glad tid¬ 
ings of salvation through Christ. This verb in its 
various forms is translated preach more than fifty 
times in the authorized version of the Hew Testament. 
It implies in almost every case the announcement of 
a joyful message, as in Matt, xi, 5; “ The poor have 


ETYMOLOGY OF SCKIPTUKAL TERMS. 


29 


the Gospel preached to themand Romans x, 15 : 
‘^How beautiful are the feet of them preach the 
Gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good 
things.” 

Kindred to the word just considered is /carayyfiAw, 
which is sometimes translated teach and declare^ but 
usually preach. Its primary meaning is to bring 
down word, or a message. The use of /cara, intensive, 
implies publication or urgency of announcement. An 
example of its use is found in Col. i, 28: “ Whom we 
preach,^ warning every man, and teaching every man 
in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect 
in Christ Jesus.” 

The next principal word of the Kew Testament 
renderedis K7}pva<jo)^ derived from Krjpv^^ a herald 
or crier. This word signifies to proclaim publicly, as 
in Matt, x, 7: As ye preachy saying, The kingdom 
of heaven is at hand;” and in the twenty-seventh 
verse of the same chapter; “ What ye hear in the ear, 
that preach ye upon the housetops.” In the Kew 
Testament KrjpvaGG) is used about sixty times, and fifty- 
four times is translated by the word preach. 

Another verb occasionally rendered preach is dia- 
Xeyopai. It implies argumentation, and is often ren¬ 
dered reasoned or disputed. It is used in Acts xvii, 17: 
‘^Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the 
Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market 
(or forum) daily with them that met with him.” 
The same term is used in Acts xx to describe a Sab¬ 
bath discourse of the apostle at Troas, in which he 
preached to the disciples till midnight. This term is 
almost exclusively applied to the discourses of Paul. 

The only other Greek verb rowdorodpreach is AaAew, 
which usually and primarily signifies to speaJc^ but in 
a few instances in connection with /loyo^ is translated 


30 


SUPEEIOR OBJECTS 


f reach. An example is found in Mark ii, 2 : He 
f reached the word unto them.” 

From this view of the original terms employed to 
designate the great work of the Christian minister, 
we perceive that the proper idea of preaching em¬ 
bodies three important elements: 

1. The announcement of joyful tidings. 

2. The proclamation of truth as by a herald, that 
is, urgently and authoritatively. 

3. The conviction or persuasion of men to belief 
by means of arguments. 

These elements naturally blend together, forming 
a union never before instituted, but highly important 
in view of the great objects contemplated. 

THE PECULIAR OBJECTS AND POWER OF PREACHING. 

At this point the special character and transcend¬ 
ent importance of the preacher’s work become strik¬ 
ingly apparent. He goes not forth to entertain men 
with pleasant words. He strives not to excite their 
admiration. He is not content with presenting the 
best forms of argument. He does not pause to dis¬ 
cuss mere secular issues, however exciting. 

The preacher goes forth as a messenger of the 
The preacher a King of kings to announce to a lost 

divine messen- i i i i . 

ger. world the tidings ot salvation through a 

risen Saviour. He proclaims the one only name 
given under heaven or among men whereby we must 
be saved. He cries aloud and spares not. He urg¬ 
ently entreats and fervently beseeches men, as in 
Christ’s stead, to be reconciled to God. And to leave 
them without excuse, he reasons of temperance, right¬ 
eousness, and a judgment to come. 

Differing from every other system of human teach¬ 
ing, and rising in its objects superior to any unaided 


OF PREACHING. 


31 


conceptions of the human mind, preaching objects ©r su- 
aims at the eternal salvation of the souls portance. 
of men. This aim embraces two important elements; 

The conversion of men from error and sin. 

Their instruction and edification in Christian truth. 

Here are objects involving everything of most im¬ 
portance to the welfare of the life that now is and of 
that which is to come; objects, moreover, of universal 
necessity. There is no condition of humanity that 
does not demand the preaching of the Gospel. There 
is no nation it may not exalt. There is no soul that 
does not crave the blessing it proposes to confer. 
Yet no other agency is so adapted to secure that 
blessing. Philosophy fails, learning falls short, and 
hum an power is insufficient. But the preaching of the 
cross proves to be “the power of God unto salvation, 
to the Jew first, and also to the Gentile.” It reached 
the hearts of men at Jerusalem, at Athens, and at 
liome. It has come down the track of ages, and 
wherever employed, with its proper conditions of suc¬ 
cess, it is found adapted to its object. It awakens 
the idolater on the banks of the Ganges; it stays the 
hand and melts the heart of the cannibal of New 
Zealand; it points the ancestral worshiper of China 
to the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the 
world; it refines and elevates alike the savage of 
Africa and of Greenland; while in enlightened coun¬ 
tries it rescues the victim of vice and sin, and saves 
the most refined and exalted with “ the power of an 
endless life.” 

One grand element of the power of preaching con¬ 
sists in its design and adaptation to mani- Preaching ad- 

^ . dresses con- 

fest the truth of God to the consciences science, 
of men.* The highest aim of secular, eloquence is 

* 2 Cor. iv, 1, 2. 


32 


PEEREQUISITES OF PREACHING. 


to quicken tlie intellect, control the judgment, and 
rouse the passions. The loftiest flight of poetry is on 
the wings of the imagination; hut preaching, although 
it may primarily address itself both to the intellect, 
the imagination, and the passions, yet it regards 
them only as the media of access to that higher and 
controlling faculty of the human mind, the con¬ 
science. In that it flnds an auxiliary of power second 
only to the influence of the Spirit of God. Thus it 
is that preaching has been adapted to the moral 
nature of man by the divine arrangement, and he 
who fails to perceive this striking peculiarity of its 
design falls utterly below a just conception of the 
dignity and power of the Gospel ministry. 

PREREQUISITES AND MATERIAL OP PREACHING. 

As the objects of preaching are peculiar, so are the 
necessary prerequisites. Preaching is not to be under¬ 
taken by every one who may desire to be eloquent, 
or who even might be eloquent in other kinds of dis- 
Essentiai pre- couTso. It is sacrilcgious presumption for 
requisites. pgrson to attempt or to pretend to 

preach the Gospel who has not a genuine Christian 
experience. The heathen rhetoricians insisted that 
an orator must be a good man. How much more a 
Christian minister! 

Yet not every person having a genuine Christian 
experience is capable of publicly preaching the Gos¬ 
pel. A divine call is essential to the office and gift 
of preaching. Such a call may be manifested in 
various ways, but must always include the influence 
of the Holy Spirit upon the individual and the cor¬ 
responding action of the Church. Hot only should 
the sacred vocation be clearly manifested at the outset 
of a preacher’s career by evidences of gifts, grace, 


MATTER OF PREACHING. 


33 


and usefulness, but it should be kept in vital force, 
so that the soul of the preacher may ever vibrate in 
conscious unison with the divine Spirit. The form 
or ceremony of preaching may be taken up and laid 
aside as easily as other forms; but true preaching, 
the preaching that Christ appointed, demands the 
power of an active faith, a holy sympathy, and a con¬ 
scious mission from God. 

In secular oratory themes change with circum¬ 
stances. In preaching the theme is one. 
Nevertheless, the one theme prescribed to 
the preacher is adapted to all circumstances and to 
all time. It is so vast and peculiar as to embrace in 
just relations to itself the whole realm of truth. 
Christianity indeed is truth itself, of which Christ is 
the sun and center. Christianity specially communi¬ 
cates revealed truth, but it legitimately embraces 
natural truth also, since the author of nature and 
revelation is one. 

The word of God is to be considered not only the 
text-book, but the grand treasury of truth for the 
preacher. In it he is furnished with history, poetry, 
experience, and philosophy, as well as preceptive in¬ 
struction and evangelical announcements. By obvi¬ 
ous affinities these truths are connected with kindred 
truths in creation and providence. Hence the 
preacher, having an eye single to the glory of God 
and the direct accomplishment of the mission with 
which he is charged, may feel authorized to draw 
truth from all sources that he may bring every phase 
of truth to bear on the furtherance of the Gospel. 
His great work, however, must be to declare the 
doctrine of the cross, “ the truth as it is in Jesus 
and to do this effectually, he not only needs an intel¬ 
lectual perception of its excellence, but the feeling 
3 


34 


SUPEEIOEITY OF PEEACHING. 


of its power, yea, tlie baptism of the Holy Ghost and 
of fire. 

This supernatural gift was bestowed on the apostles 
at the Pentecost as the consummation of their ap¬ 
pointment to evangelize the world, and as an index 
of the most essential qualification of all true evan¬ 
gelists to the end of the world.* 

§T. The Impoetance of Homiletical Study. 

The very nature of preaching, as the peculiar and 
characteristic agency for the promotion of Christian- 
Thesnwectde- ity, suggests the unspeakable importance 
mandB Study, ^ thorougli study of the principles 
which underlie its exercise, as well as of the modes 
most conducive to its successful practice. 

Moreover, Christianity prescribes study as the duty 
of all Christians. “ Search the Scriptures,” and be 
ready always to give an answer to every man that 
asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you,” are 
precepts applicable to every believer. 

More definite precepts still are given to ministers 
of the Gospel, as by St. Paul to Timothy, 2 Tim. 
ii, 15 : “ Study to show thyself approved unto God, a 
workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly 
dividing the word of truth.” 

This passage of Scripture clearly shows that special 
study to become qualified to preach the Gospel effect¬ 
ually is well pleasing to God; indeed, a positive duty 
of the preacher. 

* “ PreacMng far excels philosopliy and oratory, and yet is genuine 
philosophy and living oratory. No romance equals in wonder the 
story of the cross; no shapes of wonder have the divine style of Chris¬ 
tianity, and no mode of speaking can surpass in pathos and penetration 
that of a man to his sinful fellows on the themes of God and eternity, 
Christ and heaven.”— Eadie. ’ 


ERKOKS EXPOSED. 


35 


OBJECTIONS CONSIDERED. 

Two classes of views have been urged in opposition 
to the special study here recommended. 

On the one hand it has been argued that, as the 
apostles of Christ were unlettered men, and were 
specially qualified by divine appointment for their 
work, so in later times truly pious men, called of 
God to the ministry, may expect directly from God 
all the aid they require. The favorite maxim of 
those holding this view is that God will qualify men 
for any work to which he calls them. 

On the other hand, many who insist largely on the 
importance of education for Christian ministers 
demur to any special training for the ministerial 
work. In their view general education is sufficient, 
and a special application of its acquirements to 
preaching is only the work of common sense and 
experience. 

The practice growing out of this latter view was 
stated and reprobated in the following terms by 
Bishop Wilkins, of Chester, in his ‘‘Gift of Preach¬ 
ing,” published in 1650: 

It hath been the nsual course at the University to venture 
upon this calling in an abrupt and over-hasty manner. When 
scholars have passed over their philosophical studies and made 
some little entrance upon divinity they presently think them¬ 
selves fit for the pulpit, without any further inquiry, as if the 
gift of preaching and sacred oratory were not a distinct art of 
itself. This would be counted a very preposterous course in 
other matters if a man should presume of being an orator 
because he was a logician, or to practice physic because he had 
learned philosophy. And certainly the preeminence of this 
profession above others must needs ext^j^mely aggravate such 
neglect, and make it so much the more mischievous by how 
much the calling is more solemn. 


36 THE DISCIPLES AND APOSTLES 

As to tlie former objection, it is proper to remark 
that the error of representing the apostles of Christ 
as ignorant men is not more common than it is per¬ 
nicious. Some preachers and some writers 

Eeflitation. . , ^ , 

are never tired ot ringing changes ilpon 
“the unlettered fishermen of Galilee.” Unlettered 
they doubtless were in cabalistic lore, and untaught 
in the Rabbinical schools. But the circumstance of 
their having originally been fishermen casts no 
doubt on their having had good instruction in the 
elementary education of their times, any more than 
it does upon their individual and sterling talent. It 
is known that the best educated men of those days 
were taught trades. Thus Saul of Tarsus, although 
brought up at the feet of Gamaliel; was a tent-maker, 
capable of supporting himself by the labor of his own 
hands. 

If, then, the fair supposition be admitted that the 
disciples of Christ had, at the beginning, the common 
education of their times, let us consider what it 
would involve as elements of preparation for their 
work. In the first place, they would necessarily be 
able to read and understand the Old Testament 
Scriptures in the original Hebrew; and in the second 
place, to read, speak, and write the Hellenistic Greek 
then current in Palestine. 

In a familiar, not to say profound acquaintance 
Attainments of ^ith those two languages, to suppose 
theaposues. nothing more, it will be readily seen 
that their attainments in letters far exceeded those 
of many who in modern days have been accustomed 
to decry the learning of the apostles. That they had 
less education in the beginning than is above de¬ 
scribed cannot re^onably be supposed. Christ did 
not teach them letters, and yet their writings in 


NOT ILLITERATE 


37 


Greek have been the admiration of after ages, and 
their quotations of the Old Testament prove that 
they were familiar, not only with its spirit, hut its 
letter. 

The fact that they were inspired does not impugn 
their ordinary intelligence and cultivation. And 
now let it be asked. What college, university, or the¬ 
ological school of any age has sent forth a greater 
proportion of authors of merit than did the college 
of the apostles ? The answer is obvious. 

Let no man, then, presume to call the disciples of 
our Lord uneducated preachers. Of the most im¬ 
portant letters or languages they had a practical and 
substantial knowledge; and besides that, they had 
the unequaled advantage of two or more years’ spe¬ 
cial training and instruction under the personal 
guidance of their divine Master.* What Christian 
minister would not value such an opportunity for 
education as they had above all price, and regard his 
own best privileges as unworthy to be named in the 
comparison! f 

* On the special character of their instruction in the matter and man¬ 
ner of preaching, see § 5, chap. ii. 

t The only passage of Scripture that may he fairly thought to support 
the view here controverted is that found in Acts iv, 13. It is a record 
of the opinion formed of Peter and John, representative apostles, im¬ 
mediately after the Pentecost: “Now when they saw the boldness of 
Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant 
men, they marveled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had 
been with Jesus.” The whole passage indicates the conflict of fact and 
reason with the prevailing prejudice of the Jewish rulers, a prejudice 
of rank or caste as well as of religion. The term idiuTaL, not happily 
rendered ignorant in our version, simply private ox plebeian per¬ 

sons, as opposed to those who held any office, ecclesiastical or civil. 
The preceding term, aygdiifiaroi^ literally, unlettered^ signifles, accord¬ 
ing to Bloomfleld, representing the best commentators, “ignorant of, or 
but slightly versed in that kind of knowledge which the Jews alone 
prized, namely, of the Scriptures, as explained by their Rabbinical 
interpreters. In classical use, the word denoted those devoid of learn¬ 
ing or science, such as was imparted by the education of the higher 


38 


BUT PRACTICALLY CULTIVATED. 


When again, for a similar work, more especially 
among the Gentiles, a man was chosen who lacked 
the personal training which Christ gave the twelve, 
he was one who had previously been taught in the 
learning of the schools. But even Paul did not enter 
upon his great preaching mission until after he had 
spent three years in Arabia, as is generally and 
reasonably supposed, in special study and preparation 
for his new and holy vocation. 

From these facts in regard to apostolic preachers 
we are authorized to infer that those disciples of Jesus 
who in modern days are called to preach the unsearch¬ 
able riches of Christ should specially and profoundly 
study whatever will tend to enlighten them as to the 
greatness of the preacher’s work, or will enable them 
in the best possible manner to perform it. 

classes.” These interpretations are in perfect accordance with the view 
here advocated, namely, that the disciples were not learned in Rabbin¬ 
ical lore, but that they had been taught after the manner of the com¬ 
mon people, a style of education which, however elementary and 
despised by the Jewish officials, was nevertheless far more free from 
error than their own. 

That the disciples were from the lower orders of society in point of 
rank is not only admitted, but made the subject of frequent remark in 
the New Testament. For example, 1 Cor. i, 27: “God hath chosen 
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath 
chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are 
mighty.” 

While from this and kindred passages we are taught that Christ in¬ 
tended, in the choice of his apostles, to demonstrate the divinity of 
their calling and commission, yet no just interpretation can authorize 
us to impugn the ordinary intelligence and development of the twelve, 
even before they commenced to learn of Jesus. 

Dr. Clarke, on the passage first quoted, strongly and justly says: 
“In no sense of the word could any of the apostles be called ignorant 
men 5 for though their spiritual knowledge came all from heaven, yet 
in all other matters they seem to have been men of good, sound, strong 
common sense.” 


PEOPER ORDER OF STUDY. 


39 


§ 8. Order and Eelations of Homiletical Study. 

One of the most anxious periods of a minister’s life 
is that in which he is about to commence his career 
as a public teacher. He has heard preaching all his 
life, and it has seemed to him a simple matter for others 
to proclaim the Gospel. But now he is about to 
place the trumpet to his own lips, and he is justly 
fearful that it will not give forth a certain sound. 

Is he willing at such a period to proceed at random, 
or is he anxious to concentrate upon his path the 
full light of past experience ? He is now 
about to form habits which if unfriendly period of study, 
to success may diminish his usefulness and embarrass 
him for life, if indeed they do not render him posi¬ 
tively unacceptable or inefficient. On the other hand, 
if he can adopt habits correct in principle and useful 
in practice he may expect to begin well and to go 
forward in an ever-enlarging sphere of improvement. 
To enable him to embrace the latter series of alterna¬ 
tives is the design of homiletics. 

This topic is not to be regarded as a branch of gen¬ 
eral or elementary education. It belongs exclusively 
to those who feel themselves moved of the Holy 
Ghost to preach the Gospel. From such it demands 
attention at the period when they can bring to bear 
upon it mature results of intellectual cultivation and 
ample acquisitions of sound knowledge, and when 
also they can commence turning to account its prin¬ 
ciples and precepts by practice in actual preaching. 

In anticipation of that important period, intending 
ministers should employ great diligence preparation 
in preparatory studies both of literature 
and of theology. The acutest mental discipline and 
the richest accumulations of secular and sacred science 


40 


RELATIONS OP KNOWLEDGE. 


will not only be appropriate, but of great practical 
advantage as introdnctory to the study of homiletics. 
E^or is this a study which can be finished and laid 
aside with a scholastic course. It is to be presumed 
that every preacher before entering upon his public 
duties will desire to possess himself of all available 
instruction. As he progresses in the work of the min¬ 
istry he will become capable of still greater improve- 
A subject of life- ^©nt; and as from the elements of homi- 
long interest, letics he advances to the highest grade of 
practical effort in preaching, he may expect to be learn¬ 
ing continually, and to be ever deeply interested in 
what will enable him to preach a better sermon or more 
effectually to win souls to Christ. Thus homiletics 
in fact, if not in form, become the essential life-study 
of every true-hearted minister, of the Gospel. Indif¬ 
ference to this means of improvement conduces to a 
premature decline of usefulness if not to mental de¬ 
cay ; whereas a lively interest in the principles of the 
noblest science within the reach of mortal conception 
aids effectually those who would be co-workers with 
God in the evangelization of the world. Let it, how¬ 
ever, be always understood that no amount of theory 
on the subject will avail to make the preacher unless 
Au braneheB of he have ample resources of biblical knowl- 

knowledgemu- i i i i ^ i 

tuaiiy related, cdgc and thcological truth for the mate¬ 
rial of his preaching. As well might the science of 
architecture rear a grand cathedral without wood and 
stone. On the other hand the wood and stone might 
remain useless in their native forests and quarries, or 
if removed be only shapeless logs and heaps without 
the skill of the architect to fashion them into forms 
of beauty and of grandeur. 

Thus knowledge, experience, and the word of God, 
which are designed to furnish the subject-matter of 


OBJECT OF HOMILETICS. 


41 


preaching, may and often do remain powerless of good 
to,mankind for lack of skillful utterance. The skill 
of the preacher is wanted to transfuse these materials 
and apply them to the hearts of men. 

Thus in all the universe matter and mind, truth 
and its expression, are correlated. Hence let neither 
he displaced nor undervalued. Let exegetical and 
didactic theology be recognized as the mine or treas¬ 
ure-house from which homiletics, as the leading and 
active element of practical theology, is to draw forth 
its materials and adapt them for influence upon the 
human mind and conscience. 


42 


SOUECES AND MATEKIALS. 


CHAPTER II. 

SOURCES AND MATERIALS OF HOMILETICAL 
SCIENCE. 

BIBLICAL. 

The proper mode of preaching must necessarily 
have been a subject of anxious thought and inquiry 
to every true preacher from the foundation of the 
Church to the present time. How can it be supposed 
that any man called of God to preach the Gospel 
would be indifferent to the best mode of discharging 
this great duty? Yet, owing to the diversity of cir¬ 
cumstances and of human talents,.the conclusions in¬ 
dividually reached have been various in the extreme. 
It is the province of science to deduce from varying 
examples the principles which underlie or govern the 
whole and to render them available for didactic use. 

§1. The Materials Cumulative. 

In this department of knowledge, as in most others, 
time and experiment are elements of general prog¬ 
ress. Apart from the gift of inspiration bestowed 
upon the apostles, the preaching of each successive 
generation ought to be an improvement upon that of 
the last. But unhappily at some periods of the 
Church the standard of piety has been lamentably 
low, necessarily affecting the character both of preach¬ 
ers and preaching. At other times the standard of 
knowledge among ministers has been low, and preach¬ 
ing has suffered in consequence; while again both 
knowledge and piety have been debased together, and 


CLASSIFICATION. 


43 


tlie true idea of preaching has been trampled in the 
dust. 

It is nevertheless an arrangement of Providence 
Past experience ^^th the successes and failures of 
profitable. "become instructive for the 

present and the future. Hence we may expect to 
derive knowledge of greater or less importance with 
reference to preaching from every period of the his¬ 
tory of the Church. 

Whatever instruction is afforded by the inspired 
word must be considered of primary importance. 
Beyond that, the studies and the experience of suc¬ 
cessful preachers in different ages will naturally chal¬ 
lenge the attention of the student of preaching. 

Uninspired contributions to homiletics may be 
divided into two classes, the direct and indirect. The 
direct comprise treatises upon the subject, or some 
branch of it, designed for the instruction 
or edification of others. The indirect 
embrace individual examples of preaching and the 
history of preaching. The latter topic involves a 
consideration of both the manner and the matter of 
preaching, and the corresponding results in different 
periods and circumstances. 

At the present time we have the means of deriving 
instruction from all the past, and if we are true to 
our responsibilities we shall not fail to accumulate 
material for those who may follow us. 

§ 2. Chronological Classification. 

For practical purposes the most convenient classifi¬ 
cation of the available material of homiletics involves 
a chronological arrangement, as follows: 1. Biblical; 
2. Patristic; 3. Scholastic; 4. Modern. In the order 
of this arrangement it is proposed to indicate the 


41 CLASSIFICATION OF BIBLICAL MATEEIALS. 

more important topics whicli deserve the attention 
of homiletical students. 

§ 3. Biblical Matekials. 

Considering the inspired volume, as a whole, no 
argument is needed to prove that the Bible must be 
the corner-stone of every just system of homiletics. 
The Bible does not treat this subject systematically 
any more than it does theology itself. Nevertheless 
the Bible may be most profitably studied with refer¬ 
ence to both the matter and manner of preaching. 
When the matter of preaching is the object of our 
inquiry, we must necessarily give attention to 
the doctrines and facts of Scripture. 

When we seek instruction as to the manner of 
preaching, we may look for, 1. Specific precepts; 

2. Examples. 

Examples may be either, 1.) Direct, or, 

2.) Analogous. 

Manner, in its broadest sense, being the subject 
of our present inquiry, our attention will first 
be directed to the Old Testament, subse¬ 
quently to the New. 

§ 4. The Old Testament instructs the Preacher 

CHIEFLY BY ANALOGOUS EXAMPLES. 

In the Old Testament we find no specific precepts 
in reference to preaching, and but few, if any, direct 
examples. Of analogous examples it contains several 
very instructive. 

THE EXAMPLE OP SOLOMON. 

The only person entitled a preacher iH the Old 
Testament is Solomon. He gives himself that appeb 


ANALOGOUS EXAMPLES. 


45 


lation repeatedly in the Book of Ecclesiastes, and 
only in that book. The Hebrew term which Solomon 
applies to himself is nlbnp, Icdh-heh'-leth^ 
derived from bnp, v., to assemhle^ and cor¬ 
responding to n., signifying assembly or congre¬ 
gation. The term, therefore, means one who as¬ 
sembles a congregation, or, according to Gesenius, 
“ one who addresses an assembly, discoursing of human 
things.” 

In this character Solomon says of himself, Eccl. i, 13: 
“ I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom 
concerning all things that are done under heaven.” 
Also, Eccl. xii, 9-11: “ Moreover, • because the 
Preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowl- 
edge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and 
set in order many proverbs. The Preacher sought to 
find out acceptable words: and that which was written 
was upright, even words of truth. The words of the 
wise are as goads, and as nails fastened by the mas¬ 
ters of assemblies.” 

These declarations are certainly full of interest, 
as stating the personal experience and studious habits 
of one of whom the sacred history records a preacher 

'' should be 

(1 Kings iv, 32, 34) that ‘‘he spake three studious, 
thousand proverbs;” “ and there came of all people 
to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of 
the earth, which had heard of his wisdom.” Also 
chap. X, 24: “ And all the earth sought to Solomon, 
{Heh., sought the face of Solomon,) to hear his wis¬ 
dom which God had put in his heart.” 

Like Solomon, the preacher of the Gospel should be 
wise. Therefore he should be diligent in study and 
in prayer that he may secure the divine gift 
of wisdom in his heart. Solomon’s exam¬ 
ple should also teach preachers the importance of at- 


46 


HEBEEW TEEMS. 


tention to their style, that they may acquire the use of 
acceptable words, and such a mode of applying them 
as will not only attract hearers, hut leave upon them 
a lasting impression. 

HEBREW TEEMS RENDERED PREACH. 

Two Hebrew verbs of the Old Testament have been 
translated ^7’eacA in the English version of the Bible. 

The first is Icah-rah, to call, to cry, to proclaim. 
It is used in the false accusation of Sanballat against 
Hehemiah, Heh. vi, I: “Thou hast'also appointed 
prophets io preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying, There 
is a king in Judah.” A reference to the context will 
show that in this instance the idea has no relevancy 
to the present topic of inquiry. 

The same verb is used again in Jonah iii, 2 : “ Go 
unto Hineveh, preach unto it preaching that 
I bid thee.” In this case the word has been rendered 
by KTjpvaao) in the Septuagint; according to which 
the meaning both of the original and the Greek trans¬ 
lation is equivalent to this: “ Go proclaim the procla¬ 
mation which I command thee.” Corresponding to 
the idea of a warning proclamation, Jonah’s mes¬ 
sage when uttered was simply this: “He cried and 
said. Yet forty days and Hineveh shall be over¬ 
thrown.” 

The other Hebrew verb translated preach is ‘nba, 
hah-sar, signifying iri Kal to be joyful, and in Piel to 
cheer with glad tidings. 

This word is employed in Psalm xl, 9, where 
David says, “ I have preached righteousness in the 
great congregation;” literally, I have home tidings of 
righteousness, etc; 

The same verb is also used three times by the 
Prophet Isaiah, for example, xl, 9: “ O Zion, that 


THE TEACHING OFFICE OF JEWISH PKIESTS. 47 


hringest good tidingsP Isaiah lii, 7 : ‘‘How beautiful 
upon the mountains are the feet of him that hringeth 
good tidings^ that publisheth peace; that hringeth 
good tidings of good.’’ Isaiah Ixi, 1: “ The Lord 
hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the 
meek.” 

In all these examples the prophecies are Messianic 
and the ideas are evangelical; hence we are not sur¬ 
prised to find them expressed in the Septuagint by 
the Greek word evayyeXi^o)^ so common in the Hew 
Testament and always associated with the Gospel 
message. 


THE TEACHING OFFICE OF JEWISH PRIESTS. 

Under the Mosaic dispensation the law, and the 
ceremonies by which it was illustrated, formed the 
principal agency of public instruction. So far as the 
Old Testament portrays to us the lives and engage¬ 
ments of Jewish priests we find them Devoted to nt- 
chiefiy occupied with sacrifices and ritual 
ceremonies, with only occasional occupation as direct 
religious teachers, nevertheless, so far as the teach¬ 
ing oflice belonged to the priesthood it is instructive 
in reference to the analogous duties of the Christian 
ministry. 

In Leviticus x, 8-11, abstinence from wine and 
strong drink was enjoined upon Aaron and his sons 
on penalty of death, for the following rea- ^ 

sons: “That ye may put difference be- 
tween holy and unholy, and between unclean and 
clean: and that ye may teach the children of Israel 
all the statutes which the Lord hath spoken unto them 
by the hand of Moses.” That they were expected 
to teach these statutes by precept as well as by exam¬ 
ple may be fairly inferred. Thus we are taught that 


48 


EXAMPLE OF EZRA. 


temperance and purity are essential moral requisites 
of religious instructors. 

A singular instance of tlie teaching office in the 
priesthood is recorded in 2 Kings xvii, 27, 28, where 
“the king of Assyria commanded, saying. Carry 
thither one of the priests whom ye brought from 
thence; and let them go and dwell there, and let him 
teach them the manner of the God of the land. Then 
one of the priests whom they had carried away from 
Samaria came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them 
how they should fear the Lord.” 

The result, as stated in the following verse, 
shows that no form of instruction is 

Forms powerless. , , t • i • i 

adequate to religious purposes whicn 
does not affect the heart and reform the life. “ How- 
beit every nation made gods of their own, and put 
them in the houses of the high places which the 
Samaritans had made.” 

At Hezekiah’s passover, described in 2 Chron. xxx, 
the king “ spake comfortably unto all the Levites that 
taught the good knowledge of the Lord,” clearly dis¬ 
tinguishing between those who were faithful and the 
many who by their unfaithfulness had brought igno¬ 
rance upon the people and impending ruin upon the 
nation. 

On the restoration of the Jews after the Babylon¬ 
ish captivity special services were instituted for the 
instruction of the people in the law of the Lord. 
The eighth chapter of Kehemiah describes the occa¬ 
sion in full. The principal facts were these: “All 
the people gathered themselves together as one man 
into the street that was before the water-gate.” 
“ And Ezra the priest brought the book of the law 
before the congregation, both of men and women, 
and all that could hear with understanding.” “ And 


GIVING THE SENSE. 


49 


he read therein from morning until midday, and the 
ears of all the people were attentive unto the book 
of the law.” 

“And Ezra the scribe stood upon the pulpit of 
wood, which they had made for the pur¬ 
pose,* and beside him stood various puipit. 

“ priests and Levites who caused the people to under¬ 
stand the law.” “ So they read in the book in the 
law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused 
them to understand the reading.” 

The eighth verse, last quoted, has been supposed 
to describe dhe origin of preaching from texts of 
Scripture. The more correct view of its meaning is 
this. The phrase “gave the sense” describes the 
necessary process of translation or para¬ 
phrase by which the old Hebrew of the 
law was rendered into Chaldee, or the mingled ver¬ 
nacular which the Jews spoke after seventy years 
expatriation in Babylon. 

The priests and Levites who officiated on this 
occasion were readers of the law, and not preachers, 
nevertheless, their mode of causing the people to 
understand is highly illustrative of the Elements of 
duty of preachers under the Christian 
dispensation. 1. They read distinctly. 2. They 
gave the sense. 3. They caused the people to under¬ 
stand. From this analogous example it may be 
justly inferred that a good elocution, a capacity to 
expound the Scriptures, and also great perspicuity 
and force in communicating truth, are important to 
all preachers of the word. 

Hot only the Hebrew of the Old Testament, but 
the Greek of the Hew, have long since ceased to be 


* Merely a platform to raise him sufficiently for the people to see and 
hear him. 


4 


50 UNFAITHFULNESS OF JEWISH PRIESTS. 

spoken; but the duty of Christian ministers to read 
them intelligibly, to expound them correctly, and to 
impress the truths they contain upon the minds of 
men in all nations of the earth, will ever remain in 
force. 

In the book of Jeremiah the term pastors is intro- 
The<mr..ofm.- duced, with apparent reference to the 
faithful pastors, priests of the Jews. While, on the one 
hand, unfaithful pastors are fearfully reproved, “Woe 
be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the sheep 
of my pasture! saith the Lord,” Jer. xxiii, 1; on the 
other hand the Lord, through his prophet, promises: 
“I will give you pastors according to mine heart, 
which shall feed you with knowledge and under¬ 
standing.” Jer. iii, 15. 

Corresponding to this declaration of the necessity 
of knowledge and understanding on the part of relig¬ 
ious pastors is that of Malachi ii, 7: “The priest’s 
lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek 
the law at his mouth: for he is the messenger of the 
Lord of hosts.” 

Notwithstanding the excellence of the Old Testa¬ 
ment precepts with reference to religious instruction, 
and the edifying example of a few individuals among 
them, yet the practical example of the Jewish priests 
as a body is one of melancholy admonition to minis¬ 
ters of the Gospel. Of all the thousands who offi- 
Lack of moral ciatod at the altars of the tabernacle and 
power. temple, we find on record the names 

of but few who were distinguished for moral power. 
The majority seemed to have lived and died con¬ 
tented with mere ceremonial routine, careless of their 
higher responsibilities, and without any suitable 
efforts to instruct the people in righteousness and 
truth. Too often was the lamentation of the Prophet 


NEGATIVE INSTRUCTION. 


61 


Azariah true: ‘‘Now for a long season Israel liath 
been without the true God, and without a teaching 
priest, and without law.” 2 Chron. xv, 3. Not only 
so, but frequently the whole nation was corrupted 
through the idolatrous apostacy of the priests. They 
who were charged with the keeping of the law 
violated the law, and the proverb “like priest like 
people” was often painfully illustrated in the pre¬ 
vailing wickedness of the entire nation. 

The inferences from this whole subject are, that 
whatever intellectual or’ moral qualification was 
essential to Jewish priests in their teach- Wesson to be 
ing capacity is equally if not more essen- 
tial to the teachers of the doctrine of Christ. Indeed, 
if temperance, consistency, fidelity, knowledge, and 
understanding were .essential to them, how much 
more essential to us who publish a higher law, and 
whose great business it is to proclaim the Gospel 
throughout the world. At the same time, we should 
stand admonished against the errors and sins which 
rendered inefficient the teaching of the Jewish 
priests, and brought upon them the frowns and the 
judgments of God. 

THE EXAMPLE OP THE PROPHETS. 

The prophetical ofiice was not a regular part of 
the Jewish system. It was rather a special append¬ 
age designed to remedy the inefficiency or unfaith¬ 
fulness of the priesthood, as well as to provide a 
peculiar class of evidences to authenticate the truth 
of revealed religion. This office existed at intervals 
during a thousand years. It was some- 

, Prophetio office. 

times conferred upon Levites, at other 

times upon men of secular avocations, and in a few 

instances upon females. 


62 


PROPHETIC OFFICE 


Usually the prophets proclaimed their messages 
orally, either to individuals or assemblies, and aft¬ 
erward committed them to writing. They were 
teachers as well as foretellers of future events. In 
their didactic utterances they taught the people 
righteousness and enforced the authority of the 
Almighty. In their prophetic declarations they 
Warnings and wamed men and nations of the impend- 
promises. judgments of God, the consequences 

of their sins, and, amid the gloom of overwhelming 
calamities, they announced glorious promises of a 
Saviour to come. In every form of their labors they 
have accumulated rich examples of the proprieties of 
thought and of language, together with an exhaust¬ 
less fund of matter which may be tributary to similar 
communications while the world endures. 

They were devout in their habits and holy in their 
lives. Kegardless of personal interest or safety, they 
were ready to rebuke sin in high places or in low. 
Authority ^I’i^sts, kings, and conquerors were alike 
required to listen to their words, and made 
to quail before their messages. Generally their work 
was limited to their own nation; but in a few in¬ 
stances they were personally sent abroad, as Jonah to 
the Ninevites, and Daniel to the monarch of Baby¬ 
lon. Specially chosen, as the prophets Were, to a 
holy office typical of that which the Messiah was to 
establish on a more glorious foundation, nevertheless 
many of them were specially educated. Witness the 
allusions of the Old Testament to the sons of the 
prophets, and the schools of the prophets under the 
direction of holy men, from whom even miraculous 
powers were not withheld. With all their treasures 
of sacred knowledge, derived both from study and 
inspiration, they often lived in poverty, content 


AND CHABACTER. 


63 


in any way to fulfill their sacred mission, 
of the importance and truthfulness of 
which the history of the world is a never-ending 
attestation. 

Thus did these teachers of righteousness, these 
monitors of past and future ages, render their lives 
sublime. Men were they of whom the world was 
not worthy. In pursuance of their holy calling they 
endured trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, 
moreover, of bonds and imprisonments. They were 
stoned, they were sawn asunder, they were tempted, 
were slain with the sword, they wandered about in 
sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, 
tormented; they wandered in deserts and in mount¬ 
ains, and in dens and in caves of the earth. ISTev- 
ertheless, through faith they subdued 
kingdoms, wrought righteousness, ob¬ 
tained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 
quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the 
sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed 
valiant in fight, and turned to flight the armies of 
the aliens.* 

Truly, if virtue tends to eloquence, it is not won¬ 
derful that the Hebrew prophets gave utter- 

/» T 1 1 Eloquence. 

ance to some ot the sublimest passages that 
ever fell from mortal lips. Hence the propriety of 
studying both their character and their works as a 
means of learning better to accomplish the work of 
the Christian prophet, who, according to St. Paul, 
should speak unto men to edification and exhorta¬ 
tion and comfort.f 

* Vide Heb. xi, 33-38. 


11 Cor. xiv, 3. 


64 


HOMILETICAL MATEBIAL. 


§ 6. The IS'ew Testament abounds in Homiletical 
Material. 

As from the Old Testament we pass to the Hew, 
no characteristic of the latter is more obvious than 
the directness and completeness of its instruction on 
the subject of preaching. Apart from the subject of 
doctrines, not now under consideration, the homi- 
. letical material of the Hew Testament may he 
conveniently classified as follows: 1. The 
ciaesifleation. Christ to his disciples; 

2. The example of Christ as a preacher; 3. The pre¬ 
cepts and examples of the apostles. The object of 
the following sections will be to point out to the 
student a proper course of investigating these rich 
themes, rather than to treat them in full. 

§ 6. The Precepts and Instructions of Christ 
TO HIS Disciples. 

Christ not only instituted the great work which 
was to be the chief agency for the establishment of 
his kingdom upon earth, but he became himself an 
instructor of preachers. To follow the order and 
observe the nature of the process by which Christ 
trained his disciples for the work of the ministry 
cannot fail to be profitable to all who would seek 
instruction from the highest source. Those who for 
the first time study the Gospel history to see what 
light it throws upon this topic, will be surprised to 
observe how very prominent a feature of Christ’s 
earthly mission was the course of instruction by which 
he prepared his disciples to be preachers of the word. 

It is worthy of note that the first act recorded of 
Jesus, after his identification as the Messiah by John 
the Baptist, was the call of several of his disciples, 


CALL OF THE DISCIPLES. 


55 


to wit, John, Andrew, Simon, Philip, and Nathaniel, 
Not till after this event did he work his first miracle 
at Cana of Galilee, where his newly made disciples 
were invited with him to the marriage. After wit¬ 
nessing this beginning of miracles, in which he mani¬ 
fested forth his glory, it is recorded that his disciples 
believed on him (more perfectly.) (John ii, 11.) 

We are now prepared to observe that the training 
of the first disciples necessarily involved instruction of 
a twofold design: first, their moral and diaeipies. 
spiritual culture, inclusive of their indoctrination in 
Christian truth; and, second, their instruction as to 
the mode of teaching others what they themselves 
had learned. 

Although it is most satisfactory to study the two 
topics in connection, the present remarks must be 
confined to the latter. At a very early period of our 
Lord’s ministry he intimated to Simon Peter and his 
companions his intention of employing them for high 
purposes of good to humanity. On the occasion of 
the miraculous draught of fishes he said, Follow me, 
and I will make you fishers of men.” From that 
time “they forsook all and followed him,” being 
admitted to personal and constant com- 

. , . •ill* 1 - 1 Companioasliip. 

panionship with him as he went about 
teaching in the towns and synagogues of Galilee, and 
performing many glorious miracles. 

Following this period of probationary instruction, 
and during the early part of his second year’s public 
ministry, our Lord made a formal appoint- 

. - -I 1 rrti . Appointment. 

ment of his twelve apostles. Ihe circum¬ 
stances of that event were highly impressive. The 
place was a mountain summit, as if to overlook the 
world for which their mission was designed. The 
occasion had been preceded by a night of solemn 


56 


SPECIAL INSTRUCTIOIT. 


prayer. The number appointed identified the chosen 
band in glorious association with the patriarchs and 
the tribes of Israel, and the act of appointment in¬ 
dicated the original and divine authority of our Lord. 
“ He ordained twelve, that they should be with him, 
and that he might send them forth to preach, and to 
have power t6 heal sicknesses and to cast out devils.” 

Imagine the new thoughts and emotions that must 
have swelled the breasts of the disciples as the Saviour 
came down the mountain with them, and proceeded 
again to discourse to the multitudes and to heal their 
maladies. Like others of their countrymen, they at 
first had no just conception of the grandeur of the 
Messianic mission; and it was only by degrees, and by 
continued instruction on the part of Jesus, that they 
came to understand the magnitude of the work to 
which they were set apart. 

The Sermon on the Mount, which was delivered 
Sermon on the ^he event alluded to, was de- 

Mount. signed to show the points of difference 
between the old and the new dispensations. If that 
sermon be read with attention to the circumstances 
of its delivery it will be seen to contain much 
homiletical instruction for the disciples, who were 
placed in the foreground as the primary objects of 
address, while at the same time it was adapted to 
enlighten the multitudes surrounding them. 

From that time forward our Saviour’s instructions 
to his disciples were more frequent and more specific. 
Observe the address recorded in Luke xii, 22-31: And 
he said unto his disciples. Take no thought for your 
life, what ye shall eat; neither for the body, what ye 
shall put on. The life is more than meat, and the body 
is more than raiment.” By allusion to the ravens, 
the sparrows, and the lilies, he taught them the supe- 


TEACHING BY PARABLES. 


57 


riority of spiritual over all material interests, and 
urged them to “ seek first the kingdom of God.” He 
then exhorted them ; “ Let your loins he girded about, 
and your lights burning; and ye yourselves like unto 
men that wait for their lord.” Yerses 35, 36. 

When his parabolic teaching was introduced, what 
he uttered in the ears of the multitude he in various 
instances explained to the disciples more fully in 
private; and what they heard in private they were 
to preach upon the house-tops or in the most public 
manner. 

After a time, deeming them competent to begin 
the work of public instruction and benefi- Ministry of the 
cence, he called together his twelve dis- t)®eun. 

ciples, and with special precepts as to their work, sent 
them forth by two and two, not to the Gentiles, but 
rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. The 
precepts given on this occasion may be read in Matt. 
X, 1-42, and also in part in each of the other evan¬ 
gelists. The key of the series is found in the com¬ 
mand, “As ye go, preach, saying. The kingdom of 
heaven is at hand.” The word used was Kripvoaere, 
^proclaim or publish abroad^ and their obedience to it 
was a glorious fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 
Ixi, 1, showing that not only the personal but the 
delegated office of the Messiah was to “ preach good 
tidings unto the meek, to proclaim liberty to the 
captives, and the acceptable year of the Lord.” 

It is worthy of special remark that our Lord’s 
method of instruction coupled precepts Precept and 
and practice together; and also that the bineo. 
effect of practice upon the disciples was to teach them 
humility, and to inspire them with an anxious desire 
for further qualifications. After failing in some of 
their efforts to cast out devils, and the direct power 


58 


THE TRANSFIGURATION. 


of Jesus having to be invoked, they neither gave up 
the task in discouragement nor cast any blame upon 
the Master. They rather sought him privately, and 
asked the Lord, “ Why could not we cast him out 
“ He said unto them. This kind goeth not out but by 
prayer and fasting.” 

Yarious modes were adopted by our Lord to illus¬ 
trate to his disciples their duty and the style of char¬ 
acter they should cultivate. A notable example is 
Teaching by taking a little child and setting 

examples. luidst of them as the text -of 

a discourse, in which he illustrated to them the evil 
of disputing among themselves as to who should be 
greatest. (Mark ix, 34, 36.) The washing of the dis¬ 
ciples’ feet was another practical lesson designed to 
teach them true humility. (John xiii, 4.) 

In the transfiguration also a lesson of overwhelm- 


The transflgu- sacrodnoss and power was given to a 
ration. soloct number of the disciples to assure 
them of the reality of things invisible, and of the con¬ 
nection of the Messiah’s kingdom with the glory of 
the great God. By such means the twelve were 
gradually educated for their great mission. The in¬ 
structions given to the seventy disciples, as recorded 
in the tenth chapter of Luke, correspond in all re¬ 
spects to those given to the twelve. Many of the 
precepts uttered on various occasions to his disciples 
contain in themselves volumes of instruction with 
reference to the duty of ministers of the Gospel both 
in respect to their intellectual and moral qualifica¬ 
tions. (See Matt, x, 16, 37.) 

A very pregnant utterance of our Lord was made 

on the occasion when the disciples asked 

The tares. .. ^ . -iiat 

him to explain to them the parable of the 
tares of the field. Having done so by additional 


THE WELL-INSTRUCTED SCRIBE. 


69 


illustrations, he asked them: Have ye understood 
all these things? They say unto him, Yea, Lord. 
Then said he unto them. Therefore every scribe, which 
is instructed unto the kingdom of heaven, is like unto 
a man that is a householder, which hringeth forth 
out of his treasure things new and old.” Matt, 
xiii, 51, 52. 

Attention to these words of our Lord will show that 
he contemplated, 1. The instruction of re- Essential quaii- 
ligious teachers under the new dispensa- 
tion. The term scribe, ypafifiaTevg, implies a man of 
letters; and fiadrjTevdecg, rendered instructed^ implies 
systematic teaching, or a term of discipleship. 2. The 
instruction contemplated should be specific; not 
merely general cultivation, but religious teaching in 
reference to the kingdom of heaven. 3. It should 
cover a familiar acquaintance with things that are 
old, as pertaining to former dispensations, and God’s 
dealings with men in the past. But, 4. Ho well-in¬ 
structed scribe or minister should content himself 
with any amount of knowledge of the past without 
also being able to bring forth new thoughts, and old 
facts and thoughts in new combinations. 

Thus it is that the kingdom of heaven is ever grow¬ 
ing, and developing new beauties to minds that are 
active and thoughtful. The householder of the text 
primarily represents the collector of coins, curiosities, 
or valuables of any description, which he treasures up 
to exhibit for the instruction or entertainment of his 
friends. In objects that are old an intrinsic interest 
exists, which nevertheless is greatly heightened by 
comparison and contrast with what is new. So with 
respect to the treasures of knowledge, and especially 
with that relating to the kingdom of God on earth. 

Our Lord’s teaching in this and many other exam- 


60 


OUB LOED’S TEACHING. 


Prayer. 


The germs of Specially characterized by con- 

taining the germs or seeds of truth—the 
inherent capacity of future and inexhaustible devel¬ 
opment. Probably in their first utterance they com¬ 
municated all that the disciples were then capable of 
comprehending. ^Nevertheless, he intimated that sub¬ 
sequently they would see in them a new and higher 
significance. (Mark iv, 33; John xiv, 25, 26.) 

Our Lord not only taught his disciples with refer¬ 
ence to preaching, but also as to the duty 
and mode of prayer :* subjects of great im¬ 
portance for the minister of the Gospel in every 
period of the Church. 

As the events of our Lord’s brief pilgrimage upon 
earth hastened to a conclusion the disciples were fur¬ 
ther enlightened by predictions concerning his impend¬ 
ing death and promised resurrection. (Matt, xvi, 21.) 
As these were to be the great themes of their future 
testimony, it was fitting that they should be prepared 
in advance to witness them with a just appreciation 
of their grave import. Coupled with the trials which 
were predicted as inseparable from discipleship in the 
coming scenes of persecution, was the 
promise of the Comforter (John xiv, 
16, 17) to dwell in his disciples and abide with them 
forever. Apart from the consolation which this 
promise was calculated to give as an element of their 
religious experience, it could not fail to be full of en¬ 
couragement with reference to their great work as 
evangelists. 

Equally significant is the special prayer of Christ 
in behalf of his disciples, recorded in John xvii, 6-26. 
Through all this memorable and afiecting prayer the 
idea of the special qualification of the disciples for 

* Matt. V, vi; Luke xi, 1; xviii, 1. 


The Comforter. 


INSTKUCTIVE SCENES IN CHRIST’S LIFE. 61 

manifesting the word of God to the world runs like a 
golden thread. The detail with which it is reported 
by the beloved John clearly proves the deep impres¬ 
sion it must have made upon his mind and that of 
his brethren. The fact also that the same aid and 
blessings supplicated for them were by special ap¬ 
propriation asked for their successors in the faith to 
the end of time, is full of encouragement to every 
Christian minister who has any just appreciation 
of the w'ork to which he is called. 

The agony of the garden, the last supper, the 
arrest, the trial, and the crucifixion of our Lord, were 
also scenes in the education of his disciples which 
they could never forget. By those events they were 
prepared to appreciate more fully his 

1 n 1 , Getheemane. 

appearances among them alter his resur¬ 
rection from the dead, and the special teaching and 
commissioning which he had reserved for the period 
intervening between the resurrection and ascension. 
At that period his first object seems to have been to 
assure the disciples of his personal identity, and then 
to renew with special solemnity and authority his 
commission to them to preach the Gospel. In view 
of the great work to which they were now to be set 
apart, and as if to renew with undying power their 
recollection of his former instructions, “be- 
ginning at Moses and all the prophets, he 
expounded in all the Scriptures the things concern¬ 
ing himself.” Luke xxiv, 27. 

That they might better comprehend the great 
theme of their future teaching “opened he their 
understanding, that they might understand the 
Scriptures.” Luke xxiv, 45. 

Following this, he enjoined “that repentance and 
remission of sins should be preached in his name 


62 


THE GREAT COMMISSION. 


among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.” Luke 
xxiv, 47. 

It was at this period that be interrogated Peter, 
‘^Lovest thou me?” and gave him as the test of this 
thrice asserted love the solemn commands, “ Feed 
mj lambs,” “ feed my sheep.” 

Each one of the evangelists records in some form 
the great and crowning act of the final commission 
of the disciples, itself so important that the circum¬ 
stances, however impressive, were almost overshad¬ 
owed in the all-absorbing significance of the com¬ 
mission itself. Attention to the harmonized narrative 
shows that this event occurred in the presence of 
‘‘above five hundred brethren at once, who went 
out into a mountain whence Jesus had appointed 
them.” 

“Jesus came and spake unto them, saying. All 
power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go 
ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Ghost: teaching them to observe all 
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, 
I am with you alway, even unto the end of the 
world.”* Our Lord’s parting blessing upon the 
disciples at the ascension fitly closed the course of his 
personal instructions, designed to qualify them for 
the great task of preaching the Gospel. For the 

^christSteaeh- succoeding preachers to the end 

ings. of time these outlines and indices of the 

homiletical instructions of Christ have been placed 
upon record by the pen of inspiration. Whatever 
else may receive the attention of candidates for the 
sacred ofiice, these should be studied with careful 
anxiety and a teachable spirit. 

* See also 1 Cor. xv, 6; Matt, xxviii, 17-20; Acts i, 7; x, 42. 


CHEIST’S EXAMPLE. 


63 


§Y. The Example of Chkist as a Pkeachek. 

The Saviour of the world might have founded 
preaching as an institution of the Church, and have 
commissioned preachers without having preached at 
all himself. But it entered into his plans of wisdom 
and benevolence to be himself the great preacher, 
an example, in many senses, of what all his minis¬ 
terial servants should both be and do to the end of 
time. 

It is obvious that, in several points, he was above 
the imitation even of the apostles. In all that relates 
to his divine character he is to be admired and 
adored rather than imitated. In this respects 

light we are to regard, 1. The authority imitation, 

with which he taught. With him, although he ap¬ 
peared in the form of a servant, authority was orig¬ 
inal and supreme. With his apostles and ministers 
it is only delegated. Even the former, although 
inspired, could only teach in the name of Jesus. 
2. His miraculous power. To a limited extent 
this power was delegated to the apostles; but subse¬ 
quently an appeal to Christ’s miracles was all that 
was permitted to Christian teachers. 

Passing over such manifestations of divinity as are 
beyond the reach of our low estate, we come to a 
wide field in which the example of Christ is fully 
open to our imitation; in which, indeed, it was 
specially given that we might walk in his steps. 

CHARACTERISTICS OP CHRIST’S PREACHING. 

In seeking to delineate the characteristics of 
Christ’s preaching, one is at a loss where to begin or 
to end. Nevertheless, a few points may be noted as 
of obvious importance. 


64 


INSTEUCTIVENESS — ADAPTATION. 


mSTBUCTIVENESS. 

A high degree of instructiveness characterized his 
discourses. ‘‘He taught the peopled “He was a 
teacher sent from God,” and he was ever about his 
Father’s business. He specially exemplified his own 
illustration of the householder bringing forth “ things 
new and old.” He taught old truths in new forms, 
and new truths in the light of old institutions and 
analogies. At this point every preacher should imi¬ 
tate the Master. 1. He should have the material 
of instruction in his mind and heart. He cannot 
teach what he does not know. 2. He should be 
diligent and tireless in seeking to communicate 
knowledge. 

At this point another branch of Christ’s example 
challenges our imitation. He taught from the Scrip¬ 
tures. He not only repeatedly quoted the Jewish 
Scriptures and commented on their words as those 
of divine truth, but he went into the synagogues on 
the Sabbath-day and publicly read and expounded 
the law and the prophets. A striking example of 
“ his custom ” in this respect is recorded in Luke iv, 
16-28, in which he took as the subject of his dis¬ 
course the first verse of the sixty-first chapter of 
Isaiah. 

ADAPTATION. 

Adaptation was a striking feature of our Lord’s 
preaching. His preaching was adapted alike to the 
times and circumstances, and to the individuals and 
communities among whom he ministered. This re¬ 
mark applies both to the state of the world at the 
period of our Lord’s advent, and also to the particular 
condition of the Jewish nation and of the sects into 
which it was divided. Whoever attentively peruses 


VARIETY. 


65 


the Gospel history will perceive that his various dis¬ 
courses were perfectly adapted to the wants and 
capacities of his hearers. 

In verification of these views the student is referred 
to the following remarks and discourses niustrative ex- 
of our Lord, which severally deserve 
careful scrutiny with reference to the point in¬ 
dicated. 

1. His address to the Samaritan woman. John 
iv, 7-42. 

2. To Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. John 
hi, 1-21. 

3. To the Syrophenician woman. Matt, xv, 22-28. 

4. His Sermon to the multitude on the Mount. 
Matt. V, vi, vii. 

5. In the synagogue at Capernaum. John vi, 25-66. 

6. To his persecutors. John v, 19-47. 

7. Yarious addresses to the Pharisees. Matt, xii, 
1-8; xxiii, 2-37; Luke xiv, 1-15; John ix, 13-40. 

8. To the Sadducees. Matt, xxii, 23-33. 

9. To the chief priests and elders in the temple. 
Matt, xxi, 23-45. 

10. At the house of Zaccheus. Luke xix, 2-10. 

11. To the disciples on the destruction of Jerusalem 
and the end of the world. Matt, xxiv, xxv. 

VARIETY. 

Christ’s preaching was characterized by variety. 
We may first note the variety of places in which 
our Lord uttered his discourses. He not only 
preached in the temple and the synagogue, 
but also in the market-place, by the wayside and the 
waterside, on the mountain, in the private house, and 
at the public feast. His example in this respect 
should instruct his ministers to sow beside all waters, 
5 


66 


ILLUSTRATIVENESS. 


and to be ready in all places to declare tbe wonderful 
works of God. 

Variety of sicbject was equally cbaracteristic of our 
Lord’s preaching. While one great theme 
pervaded it, and while it tended to one great 
object, the topics it suggested and discussed were 
numerous. What interest of humanity, or what attri¬ 
bute of God, was not directly or indirectly treated by 
the great Preacher ? Here, too, is instruction for us. 
We must not tire our hearers with the repetition of 
even sacred truth, reiterated perpetually in the same 
forms and connections. We must see in the vastness 
and variety of material creation an index to the still 
wider variety of revealed truth. 

ILLUSTRATIVENESS. 

The illustrativeness of Christ’s preaching is a 
special characteristic in respect to manner. This 
feature stands out prominent in the teaching and 
preaching of Christ to a degree unequaled in any 
other high example of secular or religious oratory. 
Hot only did Christ abstain from uttering truth in 
an abstract form; not only did he clothe great truths 
and principles with flesh and blood, and fill them 
with active life, but he made, as it were, every ele¬ 
ment of creation subservient to the elucidation and 
support of the truth he uttered. 

The sun, the moon, and stars; the air and the water; 

Range of lUtiB- and darkness; the grass and the 

trationa. wheat; 

the sower and the plowman; the sheep, the goats, and 
the shepherd; the husbandman and the vine; the 
birds of the air, the foxes of the desert, the judge and 
the widow, the child and the angel, things past, things 
present, and things to come, were alike made to elu- 


DIKECTNESS. 


67 


cidate the subjects of his discourse and his aims as a 
preacher. These varied and interesting topics were 
not introduced to amuse, nor merely to entertain his 
hearers; neither were they dwelt upon unduly nor for 
the mere ornamentation of discourse, but rather for 
the intrinsic purpose of a graphic delineation and a 
lively presentation of truth before the minds of his 
hearers. In this view they admirably sub- 
served nis objects and aims as a preacher 
in several important particulars, for example: 

1. By gaining and fixing the attention of his 
hearers. 

2. By stimulating their thoughtfulness. 

3. By aiding their comprehension. 

4. By assisting their memory. 

If Christian ministers more closely followed Christ 
in the appropriate and lively illustration of their dis¬ 
courses there would he fewer uninteresting and tedi¬ 
ous sermons, and the Gospel would be commended 
with more attractiveness and power to the hearts 
of men. 

DIRECTNESS. 

Another characteristic of Christ’s preaching was 
its directness or point. In a few instances he 
appears to have employed parables rather for the 
purpose of exciting further inquiry than of making 
a perfect explanation at first; hut in general his 
teachings were not only perspicuous, hut palpable. 
His addresses neither contained vague generalities 
nor ambiguous allusions. They left no one in doubt 
as to their meaning or their application. They 
were generally direct and personal, whether to 
disciples or rulers, scribes, Pharisees, or hypocrites. 
This directness contributed greatly to the energy 
of our Lord’s discourse. It was imitated by the 


68 


APOSTOLIC EXAMPLE. 


apostles, wlio used “great plainness of speecli,” and 
may be fitly regarded as an example for Christian 
ministers at all times in opposition to the wordy 
mazes of professional rhetoric. 

The student of homiletics should direct his careful 
and interested attention to the above-named and 
other characteristics of Christ’s preaching as de¬ 
veloped in the Gospels. 

§ 8. The Examples and Precepts of the Apostles. 

Following the ascension of the risen Saviour, the 
apostles became the highest examples of what preach¬ 
ers ought to be and to do. ISTotwithstanding all that 
had been secured for them by the privilege of being 
with Christ and learning of him, they still needed 
to “be endued with power from on high.”* That 
glorious gift was imparted to them by the descent 
of the Holy Spirit at the Pentecost. From that 
memorable occasion the tongue of fire became 
the emblem of the aggressive power of Christian¬ 
ity. Then from Jerusalem, as a radiating center, 
the apostolic work of preaching the Gospel began 
its outward course toward “the uttermost parts of 
the earth.” 

In the apostolic example we have the exact coun¬ 
terpart of the Saviour’s instructions, and by it we are 
clearly taught that a special call, a divine commis¬ 
sion, and the baptism of the Holy Ghost are essential 
prerequisites to preaching the Gospel with apostolic 
power. 

In respect to the personal labors of the apostles as 
preachers we may be profited by considering, 1. Their 
prompt and tireless activity; 2. The varied circum- 

* Luke xxiv, 49; Acts i, 4-8. 


APOSTOLIC EXAMPLE. 


stances of their preaching; 3. The themes and char¬ 
acter of their discourses. 

1. If by any it should be imagined that the apos¬ 
tles would pause, after the ascent of their 
divine Lord, to compose elaborate dis- 
courses to be read under favorable circumstances to 
attentive or admiring audiences, attention to the 
scenes in which they acted will correct the error. 
]^o sooner had they received the gift of the lloly 
Ghost than “ they all began to speak as the Spirit 
gave them utterance.” Peter’s sermon, so far from 
being the only one publicly delivered on that occa¬ 
sion, is to be regarded as a sample of the discourses 
uttered by the apostles individually to the crowds 
which surrounded them. The conversion and bap¬ 
tism of three thousand in the same day cannot other¬ 
wise be accounted for. 

When the zeal of Peter and John, preaching in the 
temple, was rewarded by their arrest and 

. . 1/. I T TTT Perseverance. 

examination beiore the rulers and elders, 

they were dismissed with the stern command not to 

speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus.” Acts 
iv, 18. l^evertheless, judging it right to hearken to 
God rather than men, they returned at once to their 
proper work and “ spake the word of God with bold¬ 
ness.” Acts V, 31. Their next interruption was fol¬ 
lowed by confinement ‘Gn the common prison.” 
“ But the angel of the Lord by night opened the 
prison doors, and brought them forth, and said. Go, 
stand and speak in the temple to the people all the 
words of this life. And when they heard that, they 
entered into the temple early in the morning, and 
taught.” Acts V, 19, 20. On their next arraignment 
their accusation was: Behold, ye have filled Jeru¬ 
salem witli your doctrine.” Acts v, 28. For this they 


70 


PEEACHING THE WORD. 


were beaten, and again “ commanded that they should 
not speak in the name of Jesus.’’ 

E’otwithstanding all they returned to the work 
whereunto they were appointed, and daily in the 
temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach 
and preach Jesus Christ.” 

It is important to observe that in all these accounts 
of the early oppositions encountered by 

Persistent speech. i ^ i 

the apostles, the great source oi trial to 
the high priests and elders was that they would spealc. 
If they had only kept silence they would have been 
tolerated. The influence of their example was not 
feared; their prayers even might have been endured; 
but when they spoke or preached the Sanhedrim 
trembled; when even the humble and holy Stephen 
opened his mouth “they were not able to resist the 
wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.” Acts 
vi, 10. 

When at length, by the murder of Stephen and the 
cruel persecution which it inaugurated, the disciples 
were absolutely driven out of Jerusalem, so far from 
keeping silence or awaiting a more favorable oppor¬ 
tunity, “ they went everywhere preaching the word.” 
This brief phrase may be taken as the rule of their 
action ever afterward, whether in Judea and among 
the villages of the Samaritans, or in the surrounding 
countries when they turned to the Gentiles. 

The lesson to be derived from the prompt and tire¬ 
less labors of the apostles as preachers, is 

Xj6680£1 ^ ^ ^ 

that those who would follow their example 
should be ready on all occasions to preach the word 
however sudden the emergency, however severe the 
opposition. 

univerBaiity ot 2. The dutj of being prepared and 
their labors, willing to pi’cach the Gospel in places 


CHRIST THEIR THEME. 


71 


is equally taught by a consideration of the varied 
circumstances in which the apostles preached. No 
fastidious notions of the convenience or dignity of the 
pulpit (a wholly unapostolic institution) limited their 
efforts. Like their divine Master, they seized upon 
every fitting, not to say possible occasion to declare 
Christ and his Gospel to their fellow-men. 

In the passages already cited we have seen them 
preachiijg in the temple and in private houses. In 
repeated instances they uttered their testimony be¬ 
fore public tribunals, both Jewish and Roman.* In 
one instance by the wayside, and to a single hearer, 
Philip preached with immediate effect. 

The Jewish synagogues were favorite places in 
which to exhibit to their countrymen the 
hope of Israel, and they successively preached 
in the synagogues at Damascus, at Antioch, at Thes- 
salonica, at Corinth, and at Ephesus.f The prison 
at Philippi witnessed effective preaching from Paul 
and Silas.J Paul also declared the Gospel in the 
Areopagus at Athens and in the school of Tyrannus 
at Ephesus.§ He also proclaimed the truth from the 
stairs of the castle at Jerusalem, on board ship, and, 
finally, in his own hired house at Rome. 

3. Christ was the great theme of apostolic preach¬ 
ing. Not only did the apostles set forth 

1 « , % 1 1 Christ aU in aU. 

the tact that Jesus was the Christ, but 
they proclaimed him in all his ofiices. They preached 
Christ crucified, Christ a risen Saviour, and through 
Chris! the resurrection of the dead. They also set 
forth Christ as having power to forgive sins, as the 
Lord of all, and as the Judge of quick and dead. 

* Acts vi, 12; xxiii, 1; xxiv, 10; xxvi, 1. 

+ Acts ix, 20 ; xiii, 5, 16; xvii, 2; xviii, 4; xix, 1, 8. 

X Acts xvi, 31. 

§ Acts xvii, 19, 22; xix, 9; xx, 31; xxi, 40; xxvii; xxviii, 31. 


72 


APOSTOLIC PKEACHING. 


Christ thus preached was the Gospel of the Son 
of God. Through him peace was offered “ to them 
that were afar off.” Auxiliary to their grand theme, 
righteousness, temperance, and the judgment to 
come were topics on which their discourses fitly 
turned. As to the literary character of the apostolic 
preaching, we are authorized to say that it was “ not 
with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demon¬ 
stration of the spirit and of power.” It%blended 
logical argument with earnest and powerful entreaty. 

As to its moral character, it was urgent 

Characteristics. • t i i 

With timely and earnest warnings, it 
was also faithful, declaring the whole counsel of 
God. Again, not relying upon mere argumentation, 
it abounded in historical statements and illustrations. 
Finally, it was skillfully adapted to all classes of 
hearers, whether Jews or Greeks, barbarians, Scyth¬ 
ians, bond or free. The inspired pen has placed on 
record examples of apostolical preaching in sufficient 
fullness to justify these remarks, and our careful 
study of the examples themselves. Observe Peter’s 
sermon at the Pentecost, Acts ii, 14-^0; Stephen’s 
address before the council, vii, 2-56; Paul’s sermon 
at Antioch, xiii, 14-46; Paul’s address on Mars’ Hill, 
xvii, 22-31; his address to the multitude at Jerusa¬ 
lem, xxii, 1-22; and his defense before Agrippa, 
xxvi, 1-28. 

In the preaching of the apostles we have a prac¬ 
tical comment on the homiletical teachings of our 
Lord himself. In their course we may discern a 
happy conformity both to the precepts and example 
of Christ, coupled with the utmost freedom as it 
respects the personal characteristics of the several 

preachers. It was no part of our Lord’s 

Individuality. ^ 

design that all preaching should be cast 


THE APOSTLES TAUGHT THEIK SUCCESSOKS. Y3 

in a fixed mould, but rather that all the varied 
powers of his difierent disciples should be developed 
in such a manner as to provide for the varied wants 
of men. Hence we find that the impulsive eagerness 
of Peter, the melting tenderness of Stephen, the 
fiaming zeal of Philip, the powerful reasoning of 
PauI, the silver accents of Apollos, the patriarchal 
wisdom of James, and the loving gentleness of John, 
each had their sphere of action, and result in the 
propagation of a common Gospel. So it will ever be 
in the history of the Church. Diversified talents, 
consecrated to a single purpose, and developed by a 
similar training in the light of common examples, 
and yet left free to individual modes of action, will 
answer in the highest degree the purposes of the 
Gospel ministry. 

Those purposes are illustrated in some of the 
prominent results of apostolic preaching. 

Of these it is proper to name, 1. The 
conversion of unbelievers, both Jews and Gentiles. 
In this we may perceive the designed effect of the 
Gospel on individuals. 2. The establishment and 
edification of Churches, illustrating the provisions of 
the Gospel for communities. 3. The overthrow of 
idolatry, foreshadowing the effect of truth upon all 
systems of error. 4. The training of future evan¬ 
gelist's. 

It is specially interesting to observe the apostles 
in their office of instructors to the preachers who 
were to enter upon their labors. The leading apos¬ 
tles associated with themselves, in their pastoral and 
missionary tours, younger brethren, who became at 
once learners and assistants in the work of preaching. 
Thus Barnabas, Silas, Timothy, Titus, and others 
were successively the pupils and associates of Paul. 


Practical resxilts. 


74 


THE PASTORAL EPISTLES. 


Wlien they had made due proficiency, and attained 
proper experience, they were not only commissioned 
as evangelists, but also to teach and commission 
other evangelists ‘‘to commit the things they had 
heard from the apostles to faithful men, who 
should he able to teach others also.” 2 Tim. ii, 2. 
Thus it was designed that apostolic precept and 
example should descend to infiuence the preaching 
of successive generations. Ha])pily those precepts 
were not all oral. A valuable series of them has 
been placed upon the inspired record, together with 
various remarks and allusions in the other epistles 
bearing more or less directly upon the same subject. 

To the three epistles addressed by Paul to his sons 
in the Gospel, Timothy and Titus, the true Christian 
minister must ever turn with special interest for 
hints and instructions with reference to every depart¬ 
ment of his sacred duties. In the writings of St. 
Paul, preaching stands forth as the grand idea of his 
life, illustrated in all his words and actions. But in 
the Epistles to Timothy it becomes the subject of 
most frequent reference and of solemn appeal. 

Let the homiletical student be diligent in search¬ 
ing out instruction from the life and writings of the 
^ ^ apostle to the Gentiles; and espe- 

cially let him ever bear in mind, as 
addressed to himself, the concluding exliortation of 
Paul to Timothy: “ I charge thee therefore before 
God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the 
quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; 
preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; 
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long-sufiering and 
doctrine.”* “Watch thou in all things, endure afflic¬ 
tions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof 
of thy ministry.” 2 Tim. iv, 1, 2, 5. 


LITERATUBE OF HOMILETICS. 


75 


CHAPTER III. 

SOURCES AND MATERIALS OF HOMILETICAL 
SCIENCE CONTINUED. 

PATRISTIC-SCHOLASTIC-MODERN. 

§1. Patristic Literature of Homiletics. 

In passing from the period of the apostles to that 
of the Church fathers, we need not he surprised at 
finding a very noticeable decline in the value of the 
materials of every descri]3tion furnished to the homi- 
letical student. The contrast between inspired liter¬ 
ature and that which is uninspired is hardly greater 
than prevails here. Nevertheless, we see the prog¬ 
ress of the Church amid oppositions which would 
have crushed out any human institution, and we 
know the motive power which had been divinely 
appointed to urge it onward. From the days of the 
apostles there was a succession of faithful preachers, 
of whom the greater number have their only record 
on high. At this distance of time we can only take 
observation of those who are represented to a greater 
or less extent in the literary remains of their several 
ages. Such remains for the first three centuries 
are scanty at most, and it is not strange 

^ Scanty maferial. 

that we find the writings of the early 
fathers more occupied with the moral than the scho¬ 
lastic precepts which were appropriate for Christian 
and ministerial instruction. Articles of the latter 
class, which bear at least indirectly upon the duties 
of the preaclier, have descended to us from Clemens 


LEADING FATHEKS. 


Y6 


Oratorical period. 


Romamis, Ignatius, and Dionysius, of the first cen¬ 
tury; Anicetus of the second, and Cyprian of the 
third. It was not, however, till the Church had 
passed through her severest persecutions that she 
entered upon what has been denominated her orator¬ 
ical period, about the beginning of the 
fourth century. Then followed the 
labors of Ambrose, of Basil, of the Gregories, of 
Chrysostom and Augustine, the most distinguished 
preachers of the early ages of the Church. 

From the fathers named, and also from Origen, 
Tertullian, Cyprian, Lactantius, Jerome, Cyril of 
Alexandria, and several others, various discourses and 
homilies have descended to the present time. But 
the only authors of the Patristic Age who made di¬ 
rect contributions to the literature of homiletics are 
Chrysostom and Augustine, representing respectively 
the Greek and the Latin Churches. 

The fame of Chrysostom, the golden-mouthed 
preacher of Antioch and Constantinople, 
has been scarcely less diffused than that 
of Demosthenes himself. It is peculiarly gratify¬ 
ing, therefore, that we have extant a work from 
the pen of Chrysostom entitled Ilept Ispoavvi^g-, or. 
Concerning the Priesthood. De Sacerdotio^ the Latin 
title, is more frequently quoted than the Greek. 

The following abstract of the subjects of chapters 
will indicate the parts of the work of greatest value 
to the student of preaching. Indeed, they of them¬ 
selves form a series of useful precepts worth attention 
in modern days. 

CHRYSOSTOM’S PRECEPTS. 

Book iii, chap. 12. A priest ought to be very wise (or learned.) 

Book iv, chap. 3. A ready faculty of speaking, essential to a 
priest (or minister.) 


Chrysostom. 


CHRYSOSTOM’S PRECEPTS. YY 

Book iv, chap. 4. He should be thoroughly versed in the con¬ 
troversies of the Greeks and the Jews. 

Book iv, chap. 5. He should also be skilled in dialectics. 

Book iv, chap. 6. Tlie blessed Paul excelled in that faculty. 

Book iv, chap. 7. The same was not only renowned in won¬ 
derful deeds, but also in the art of speaking. 

Book V, chap. 1. Much labor and'study should be practiced 
by those who would speak with effect to the people. 

Book V, chap. 2. Those who are devoted to their work should 
despise human praise, and seek to become skillful in speaking. 

Book V, chap. 6 . All sermons should be moulded by judgment 
and study as a means of pleasing God the more. 

This treatise of Chrysostom was written at an early 
period of his ministry, and may be fairly supposed to 
contain the precepts by which his life and habits as a 
preacher were governed. 'No preacher of the early 
Church was more largely gifted with the genius of 
oratory than he; no one was more thoroughly trained 
in accordance with the best models of the Greek 
schools, and yet he neither relied on his genius nor 
his training, but devoted himself with diligent and 
self-denying application to the task of preparation 
for his public ministry. His preaching drew and 
enraptured throngs of people, and yet, so far as we 
can judge from the numerous homilies reported in 
his works, it was plain and unostentatious; indeed, 
familiar and often homely in its phraseology in 
adaptation to the comprehension of the masses, yet 
always abounding in interesting and practical 
thoughts. His style is characterized by a pro-* 
fusion of figures and illustrations by which 
the most familiar topics are made instruct¬ 
ive, and the most abstruse familiar. A large por¬ 
tion of the homilies of Chrysostom are consecutive ' 
expositions of Scripture. As a whole, the 
discourses of this father will better repay 


78 


AUGUSTINE’S TREATISES. 


careful study than any other similar remains of the 
Patristic Age. 

While Chrysostom’s treatise on the priesthood rep¬ 
resents the preceptive literature of the Greek Church, 
two essays from the pen of Augustine hold a similar 
relation to the Latin Church. Augustine before his 
conversion was a teacher of rhetoric, and as he be¬ 
came a voluminous writer in the interest of Chris¬ 
tianity it was but natural that he should treat upon 
the great work of Christian ministers. Accordingly, 
we find direct reference to it primarily in his tract en¬ 
titled De Doctrina Christiana^ concerning Christian 
Teaching; and more briefiy in that entitled De Cate- 
chizandis Rudibus^ on Catechizing the Ignorant. 

The first three books on Christian teaching are en- 
Doetrina Chris- titled De Invenleudo^ on Invention, or the 
tiana. mode of ascertaining what should be 

taught. The fourth book is entitled De Proferendo^ 
on Utterance, or setting forth. This only has special 
interest for the modern student of homiletics, but 
this is of so much importance as to deserve presenta¬ 
tion in the form of a condensed abstract of all its 
essential points.* 

SUMMARY OP AUGUSTINE’S VIEWS ON UTTERANCE, 

(preaching.) 

§ 1. None are to expect in this connection mere precepts of 
rhetoric. 

‘ § 2. Yet rhetoric is useful, and should be enlisted in behalf of 
the truth. 

§ 3. The art of rhetoric should be acquired in youth, and 
chiefly by hearing good models. The study of ecclesiastical lit¬ 
erature is of great benefit. It may make men able to speak well. 
But if not, it may do better and cause them to act well. 

§ 4. The preacher, therefore, as a champion of the true faith 
* This abstract is abridged from that of Moule. 


AUGUSTINE’S PEECEPTS. 


Y9 

and an opponent of error, should bend all his efforts to teaching 
good and unteaching evil. To this end he may employ various 
styles of address: for example, narrative, entreaty, rebuke, and 
appeal, according as the hearer is to be instructed, or roused to 
a practical sense of what he knows already. 

§ 6. It is far better to speak wisely than eloquently. And a 
man is said to speak with more or less of true knowledge as he 
has made a greater or less advance in the study of the Scriptures. 
This Scripture knowledge may go a great way as a substitute 
for artistic eloquence. But a union of the two is preferable. 

§ 6. The Scriptures exhibit an eloquence of their own as truly 
suited to their character as a young man’s talk is suited to youth, 
and an old man’s to age. So perfect is the congruity in passages 
recognized as eloquent, that the words seem less to have been 
chosen by the author than to have belonged by a kind of neces¬ 
sity to the subject. 

§ 7. An examination of such passages of Scripture as Romans 
V, 3; 2 Cor. xi, 16; Amos vi, 1, prove the congruity above 
named, and illustrate the union between true- knowledge and 
eloquence. 

§ 8. Obscure parts of Scripture are not to be imitated by min¬ 
isters. Perspicuity is to be the aim of him who would preach 
well. 

§ 9. Intricate points not suitable to public assemblies may be 
expounded in private, provided that clearness, not artistic merit, 
be regarded in the exposition. 

§ 10. The idea of clearness expanded in a series of practical 
remarks, the substance of which is that he is the best preacher 
who provides that his hearers hear the truth, and that what they 
hear they understand. 

§ 11. The province of didactic eloquence is to bring to light 
what is hidden. Still some intellectual food must be served up 
with spices. 

§§ 12, 13. Comment on Cicero’s motto, “Convince the judg¬ 
ment, please the understanding, and bend the will,” showing that 
the preacher’s victory consists in bending the hearer to action. 

§ 14. Attractiveness in preaching must always be tempered, 
1. By sound doctrine; and, 2. By gravity. 

§ 15. It is more by the Christian fervor of his sermons than by 
any endowment of his intellect that the minister must hope to 
inform the understanding, catch the affections, and bend the 


80 


AUGUSTINE — JEROME. 


will of his hearers. The Holy Spirit, promised to those who for 
Christ’s sake were delivered over to persecution, (Matt, x, 19,) 
will not be withheld from those who are preaching Christ. 

§ 16. Nothing, however, is more unwise in itself, and more 
alien to the spirit and letter of the divine economy, than to sup¬ 
pose that the gifts of the Spirit justify us in relaxing our own 
efforts. 

The next ten sections of the book are chiefly devoted to dis¬ 
tinctions between three kinds of style, namely: 1. The low and 
gentle; 2. The even and regulated; 3. The lofty and impressive. 
Examples illustrative of these different styles are adduced from 
the Scriptures, and from Ambrose and Cyprian. These styles 
are shown to be closely related to each other, and to be means 
to a common end, namely, persuasion of the right. 

Finally, Augustine asserts that more important than anything 
else is the life of the preacher, and no rules of art will ever have 
the least chance of supplying the void which must result from an 
unsoundness in that. Moreover, prayer must not be forgotten. 
Did Esther pray for fitting words in her address to the king 
regarding the temporal safety of her people, and shall we neglect 
to do the same when the eternal welfare of mankind is at stake ? 

Augustine’s tract on catechizing the ignorant was 
addressed to Deogratias, a deacon at Car¬ 
thage. A considerable portion of it is com¬ 
posed of two specimen sermons. Although the 
remainder abounds with instructive and characteristic 
passages, yet they may rather be considered as con¬ 
firming the positions quoted above than adding any¬ 
thing to them of great importance. 

One of Jerome’s letters, addressed to hTepotian, 
contains a bare allusion to the subject of preaching. 
Besides this, although several works relating to the 
priesthood appeared between the fourth and eighth 
centuries, there is nothing more of any value in ref¬ 
erence to the theory of preaching in all the literature 
of the ancient Church. Chrysostom and Augustine 
have therefore stood forth to all after ages as the 


KISE OF SCHOLASTICISM. 


81 


chief and almost sole representatives of the fathers in 
reference to this subject. As such they have been 
freely quoted. Augustine especially has been re¬ 
garded as the great authority by Roman Catholic 
authors, several of whom, such as Fenelon, Rapin, and 
Rollin, enjoy high consideration among Protestants. 

§ 2. Scholastic Litekature of Homiletics. 

After Augustine there followed an interval of 
seven hundred years without a single work of a homi- 
letical character, at least that has come down to 
modern times. During the dreary centuries that fol¬ 
lowed the corruption of the Church and the decline 
of preaching, a few works on the priesthood were 
issued, chiefly manuals of common duties, in which 
preaching was practically ignored. In the eleventh 
century a slight intellectual movement commenced, 
which resulted in a style of thought and philosophy 
since known as scholasticism, from the schools in 
which it was taught. Scholasticism was characterized 
by the endeavor to reduce theology, then but a series 
of traditional dogmas, to a rigid and formal system-. 
It employed as its chief agency the dialectics of 
Aristotle. It extended from about 1075 to the middle 
of the fourteenth century, and passed through three 
distinct periods, which have been denominated suc¬ 
cessively, 1. The Dialectic and Ecclesiastic; 2. The 
Dialectic and Mystic; 3. The Biblical and Dialectic. 
Scholasticism at length declined under the preliminary 
agencies of the Reformation; but notwithstanding the 
decline of its authority as a religious and philosophi¬ 
cal system, its influence was felt upon the literature 
of succeeding ages. This influence is clearly traceable 
in the homiletical writings of the twelfth and six¬ 
teenth centuries inclusive, and to some extent even 
6 


82 


PEKIODS OF SCHOLASTICISM. 


later. Hence the adoption in this connection of the 
term scholastic rather than medieval, since it is 
designed to embrace in one classification books of a 
particular type, although some of them appeared 
within the period usually denominated modern. 

But few of the works of the scholastic period are now 
accessible, hence it is deemed proper to present to the 
student in the Appendix* such a notice or abstract 
of each one as will enable him to judge of its char¬ 
acter and value. 

One principal effect of scholasticism upon homilet¬ 
ics was the introduction into religious discourse of 
scientific formalities consisting of minute divisions 
and subdivisions. It is, however, to be confessed that 
the sermons of that period do not exhibit their use 
to so great a degree as those of later times, especially 
those of the English Puritans and the German hom¬ 
ilists. 

Another result was closer attention to the precepts 
of the ancient rhetoricians, which,. while it had a 
tendency to polish style, nevertheless secularized 
preaching by making it little more than a rhetorical 
exercise. 

§ 3. Modern LiTERAf ure of Homiletics. 

The last two centuries and a half have produced 
more valuable materials for homiletical students than 
the fifteen centuries preceding. This remark is ap¬ 
plicable to every branch of study appropriate to the 
Christian minister. It embraces biblical criticism, 
systematic theology, the propagation of the Gospel 
by various agencies, clerical biography and published 
sermons, as well as direct authorship relating to the 
theory and practice of preaching. 

* Appendix A. 


MODERN HOMILETICAL LITERATURE. 


83 


A prolific theme. 


Developments. 


As the latter theme of itself requires a much 
greater space than the present paragraph 
can allot to it, reference is made to arti¬ 
cle B of the Appendix, where the student will find 
a list of authors and hooks which will indicate to him 
the extent and value of the modern literature of hom¬ 
iletics, not only in the English, but also in other lan¬ 
guages. 

The following general statements deserve to he 
borne in mind: 1. As the evangelical idea of preach¬ 
ing has been restored to the Church, 
works on the subject have been multiplied. 

2. The revival of true religion and that of correct 
theories and practice in preaching have to a large 
extent been reciprocal. 3. The tendency of discus¬ 
sion and investigation in reference to this subject has 
been to secure a higher recognition of the validity of 
Scripture precepts and example, and consequently 
an improvement in the general character of preach¬ 
ing, by a return to its apostolical simplicity and 
power. 4. A comprehensive acquaintance with the 
best writers on this subject is extremely desirable to 
preachers. It tends to satisfy a reasonable curiosity 
on a subject of intrinsic importance; it points out 
the most profitable sources of improve¬ 
ment ; it tends to enlarge the views of the 
reader, to stimulate diligence, to correct errors, and 
to suggest modes of improved and increasing useful¬ 
ness. Ministers, like other men, need line upon line 
and precept upon precept, and these works often sup¬ 
ply hints of the largest practical value. 


Advantages. 


RELATIVE VALUE. 


In connection with the present topic some further 
remarks are in place concerning the relative value of 


84 


COMPARATIVE VALUE. 


the homiletical literature of tlie different periods. 
Obviously that of the brief period illuminated by 
inspiration must ever remain the most instructive and 
authoritative to all who would understand the subject 
in the light of God’s will. 

Some would place next if not foremost in import¬ 
ance the example and precepts of the fathers. The 
error of such is obvious from various facts: 1. Our 
records of the early portion of the patristic era, when 
example was most authoritative, are extremely im¬ 
perfect. 

2. ITotwithstanding all the splendor with which 
historians have sought to invest the oratorical period 
of the early Church, it is easy to discover amid great 
external prosperity the commencement and progress 
of that decline in spirituality which subsequently 
manifested itself in the complete subordination of 
preaching to ceremonial observances. 

3. Although the treatises of Chrysostom and Au¬ 
gustine are to be prized for their intrinsic value, yet 
from their brevity and incompleteness they are prac¬ 
tically inferior to various works of modern times. 

Medieval literature has found some eulogists; but 
the common sense of mankind will place it in a rank 
far below even the patristic. 

Modern homiletical literature now comes into view 
as next in importance to biblical. It indeed em¬ 
braces much that is trivial and repetitious, but with 
some dross it contains no little pure gold. The best 
modern treatises on preaching have partaken of the 
vitality and power which, since the days of the Eef- 
ormation, have in a greater degree pervaded preach¬ 
ing itself and brought it back to its original design 
and dignity. Besides, they have been enriched with 
the influence of the increasing knowledge of man- 


BIBLICAL AND MODEKN MOST VALUABLE. 85 

kind, and by the cumulative advantages of multiplied 
experiment in the propagation of the Gospel, from 
which are deduced both principles and rules of prae- 
tice adapted to the guidance of thoughtful men in the 
present age of the world. 

Fortunately those branches of homiletical literature 
which are of greatest value, both the biblical and the 
modern, are quite accessible; and while it is interest¬ 
ing to consult as far as we may be able the literature 
of other periods, it is both practicable and important 
to be well versed in that of our own day as well as 
in what comes to us from the days of the Saviour and 
his apostles. 

§ 4. Other Sources of Homiletical Instruction, 

PUBLISHED SERMONS. 

An obvious distinction exists between works on 
preaching (homiletics proper) and those which have 
resulted from preaching as its products (sermon- 
ology.) The former only have been referred to in 
the foregoing sections, including, of course, such ser¬ 
mons as relate specifically to the work of preaching. 
Apart from the comparatively few of this class, 
printed homilies and sermons constitute a vast body 
of theological literature. 

While in its original and complete sense a sermon 
cannot be printed, since nothing is strictly a sermon 
or speech which is not spoken, yet usage allows us to 
call that a sermon which has been written for deliv¬ 
ery as a religious discourse, or which has been re¬ 
ported from the lips of a preacher. Of such value 
indeed is the preserving power of letters, that next to 
the living voice of the speaker we prize the record of 
his words. Moreover, letters give this advantage, that 


86 


VALUE OF PUBLISHED SEEMONS. 


whereas we may hear the speaker hut once, and in 
the public congregation, we may have the record of 
his words to read in private and to reperuse in follow¬ 
ing years. 

It must also be conceded that the structure and 
Value of pub- flatter of a sermon may be better analyzed 
lishedsermons. through the medium of the eye than of 
the ear, however the lack of delivery may weaken 
the power of its impression. It certainly is a source 
of peculiar satisfaction that in our homiletical studies 
we can have access to the record of sermons which 
represent every age of the Church and most of the 
distinguished preachers that have adorned its annals. 

Published sermons may be studied for the sake of 
the truth they contain, and also with ref- 

Trutb. and style. «/ ^ ^ 

erence to the style in which that truth is 
communicated. For the latter object the perusal of 
sermons need not be extensive, and yet few liberal- 
minded preachers would not prize the opportunity of 
investigating to a greater or less extent the sermon- 
ology of ancient and medieval as well as of modern 
times. From this point the topic under consideration 
coincides, in a great degree, with the two that follow. 

MINISTERIAL BIOGRAPHY. 

A special interest attaches to the life of a great or 
a good preacher. From a proper delineation of his 
Christian character, his modes and extent of study, 
his style of preparation for the pulpit, his delivery, 
and the effects of his preaching, we learn by example 
what we ought to be or to do ourselves. If he has 
committed errors or suffered failures, we can note 
their causes and avoid them; and wherein he has had 
special success, we can learn to profit by his experi¬ 
ence. While it may not be essential for the homilet- 


THE APOSTLES AND FATHEES. 


87 


ical student to pursue in advance any extended 
course of biographical reading, yet it wi\l be advan¬ 
tageous to him at every period of life to commune 
with those who have gone before him in the career 
of ministerial usefulness. 

It will be a profitable task for him to analyze from 
Scripture data the character and the pe¬ 
culiar gifts and graces of the several apos- 
ties. He may in the historical remains of the early 
Church find fragments that will throw light upon the 
preaching of the first three centuries. In 
reference to this period of ecclesiastical his¬ 
tory, it is interesting to compare with the personal 
character of such fathers as Clement of Rome, Igna¬ 
tius, Polycarp, Justin Martyr, and Irenseus, the frag¬ 
ments of their writings and discourses which have 
come down to us. In respect to the fathers of the 
third and fourth centuries, materials of both kinds 
are abundant; and it is instructive to compare the 
lives and the discourses of such preachers as Origen, 
Tertullian, Cyprian, Lactantius, the Gregories, Basil, 
Ambrose, and Jerome, as well as of Chrysostom and 
Augustine. In most if not all these cases we are to 
understand that the sermons and homilies of the fa¬ 
thers are less their own writings than the accepted 
reports of their discourses, which were taken down by 
ready writers from their lips, and copied and passed 
about for reading by those who were interested in 
their preservation. 

Between the fifth century and the Reformation the 
annals of the Church furnish fewer charac- Medieval 
ters of special interest to the preacher, al- 
though some rare, examples may be named, such as 
the venerable Bede, Anthony of Padua, and Bernard 
of Clairvaux. 


88 


CLERICAL BIOGRAPHY. 


Since the days of the reformers this department of 
literature has grown apace, and has already 
become so voluminous as to be quite beyond 
the limits of just treatment, or even of adequate refer¬ 
ence, in the text of a work like the present. 

Yet it cannot be passed over without an earnest 
recommendation to young preachers to make them¬ 
selves familiar with the lives as well as the sermons 
of such men as Latimer, Knox, Jewell, 
era. Wesley, Benson, Eichard Watson, Eobert 

Hall, Chalmers, Jay, Bunting, ISTewton, of England ; 
Eeinhard, Krummacher, and Tholuck, of Germany; 
Saurin and Monod, not to speak of the great Catholic 
preachers of France; John M. Mason, Dwight, Sum- 
merfield, Payson, Olin, and Alexander, of America; 
together with many others of various periods and 
countries. 


THE HISTORY OP PREACHING. 

An adequate history of preaching has never yet 
been written.* Such a history would involve facts 
and topics of the greatest interest. It would be a 
continued lesson of examples shown not only in the 
character and relations of individual preachers, but 
in the collective influence of bodies of men, and the 
working out of particular doctrines and principles, 
whether for good or evil. Such a history would be 
a practical comment upon true and false modes of 
preaching. It would illustrate the rapid progress of 
the Gospel, both in ancient and modern times, 
wherever preached in apostolic simplicity and power; 
while it would equally show the fatal decline of true 

* Several attempts have heen made hy German writers which might 
in more evangelical hands prove the basis of something valuable on t.big 
subject. ( Vide Appendix, p. 460.) 


PIETY AND PEEACHING DECLINE TOGETHER. 89 

godliness wherever the voice of evangelical truth 
has been muffled by the trappings of ceremonial dis¬ 
play, or stifled beneath a mass of errors and corrup¬ 
tions. Thus the facts of the past are calculated to 
impress upon the mind of the homiletical student 
negative as well as positive lessons of great value. 

It is indeed a question of grave interest how far 
the gloom and ignorance of the dark ages preaewnggov- 
actually resulted from a decline in the 
efflciency of preaching. There is cer- Church, 
tainly an obvious correspondence between the fact 
of that decline and the general decrease of intelli¬ 
gence and piety in the Church and the nations. 
When in the flfth and sixth centuries the system of 
ritual service began to be developed, in imitation of 
both heathen and Jewish ceremonies, preaching came 
to be regarded as of inferior importance. The mass 
became the great act of divine service; and the 
sermon, when not omitted altogether, was treated as 
a mere pendant to a showy ceremonial. During the 
dismal centuries which followed,, preaching became 
degraded to the lowest degree. In some places it 
was well-nigh extinct, and in its stead the priests 
resorted to a species of plays in the churches, in 
which sacred events were dramatized for the ediflca- 
tion of the people. 

Hot only do the annals of the medieval Church 
show the lack of the vitalizing power of the word, 
but they illustrate the fearful consequences of its 
perversion. 

The Crusades were a result of preaching, not of the 
Gospel of peace, but of bloody war; not of love, but of 
vengeance. The fanaticism aroused by perversion of 
the harangues of Peter the Hermit, and preaching, 
those who followed him in similar efforts to inflame 


90 


THE GEEAT KEFOKMATIOH. 


tlie passions of Christian nations against the Moslems, 
raged through Europe and the East for the space ot 
nearly three centuries, consigning to destruction 
millions of lives and treasure. 

IS'ot only in that instance, but also in connection 
with nearly every heresy that has originated since 
the days of Simon Magus, the agency of preaching 
has been resorted to as a means of propagation, and 
too often with success. 

The great Reformation was the result of a revival 
The great Ref- prcaclicd word. It was not till 

ormation. twclfth ccntury that the dawn of 

better days began to throw its faint glimmer upon 
the darkness of the middle ages. Cotemporaneously 
with that event the Gospel trumpet, so long silent, 
was feebly heard among the wild valleys and se¬ 
cluded fastnesses of the Alps. It was caught up and 
blown with a louder trill by Wiclif in England. 
Hot long afterward its sound was echoed by Huss in 
Bohemia, and by Savanarola on the plains of Italy. 

When the voices of these preachers had been 
extinguished in martyrdom, and the papacy vainly 
hoped that the truth was effectually silenced, the 
outspoken words of Luther sounded forth from the 
heart of Germany in tones of power that made the 
papal palaces of Rome tremble to their foundations. 
The truth could be bound no longer. Preaching, 
once more restored to its proper character and func¬ 
tions, became the grand agency for the spread of the 
Reformation. 

It is interesting to observe its progress and effects 
in the fierce struggles of truth with error, and to 
mark its growing power during a century or two 
following, while employed with faithfulness and zeal 
by such men as Melancthon, Zwingle, Flavel, Lati- 


WESLEYAN REFORMATION. 


91 


mer, Jewell, Calvin, and Knox. Great were the 
triumphs of preaching in the sixteenth and seven¬ 
teenth centuries, and full of instruction are the lives 
and labors of many, especially of the puritan divines, 
of the last named century. 

But when in the lapse of time the early and better 
fruits of the English reformation had become blighted 
by dead formalism, lifeless antinomianism, loose Ar- 
minianism, and other errors, the fruitful source of evil 
practice; in the early part of the eighteenth century 
God in mercy sent a revival of apostolic preaching 
by his chosen servants, Wesley and Whitefield. This 
glorious revival, after a hundred years of experiment, 
is now more active and prosperous than ever. The 
whole Protestant world has participated in it; while 
even the Roman Catholic Church, in proportion to 
the progress of Protestantism, has aroused itself to a 
degree of activity and earnestness in preaching un¬ 
known in its previous history. 

Especially do the position and character of preach¬ 
ing in the nineteenth century challenge 
the attention of all who are interested in o^p^eaening. 
the promotion of the truth. The preaching of the 
Gospel has now been commenced in a large propor¬ 
tion of the languages of the earth, and in many mis¬ 
sion fields, under circumstances of peculiar interest. 
In all enlightened countries it has auxiliaries un¬ 
known to the earlier ages of Christianity, such as 
a Sabbath of acknowledged sanctity, myriads of 
churches erected and filled with habitual hearers, 
and millions of Bibles in the hands of the people. 
It is safe to say that at no preceding time was ever 
the preaching of the Gospel so widely disseminated; 
and probably it would not be hazardous to affirm 
that, as a whole, the preaching of the present day 


92 


DEMANDS OF THE AGE. 


excels that of any former age. It certainly ought to 
be so; and whatever excellence preaching may now 
have attained, as the result of the increased diffusion 
of knowledge and piety, each successive generation 
of preachers ought fo labor, and to hope to carry it 
forward to still wider spheres of influence and still 
higher degrees of power. 

In order to this they should not be content with 
narrow views of its character and importance, or of 
the means necessary to a proper develop- 
Motives to study. Capacities that God has 

given them for its successful practice. Those who 
propose to satisfy themselves with the mere routine 
of a preacher’s duties may perhaps feel indifferent to 
topics like the present; but all who regard their work 
as of supreme importance, and themselves engaged in 
an enterprise whose bearings are as wide as the world 
and as lasting as eternity, will wish to study the sub¬ 
ject in its broadest aspects, and in the light 'of the 
maturest experience of the past as well as the most 
promising experiments of the present. 

Although not as yet reduced to any single volume, 
yet the materials of the history of preaching may be 
found scattered through the annals of the Church, 
and may be gathered by each reader for himself. 
The homiletical student, therefore, will do well to 
have his eye open to whatever in ecclesiastical history, 
as well as clerical biography, has a bearing upon this 
department of study, and also to be observant of what¬ 
ever facts are transpiring in his own period to illus¬ 
trate the great principles involved in the proclama¬ 
tion of the word of life to dying men. 

Most prominently will one great fact rise to view 
Lessons of his- result of such observations: preach- 

tory. becomes powerful in proportion to its 


LESSONS OF HISTORY. 


93 


connection with intelligent and evangelical piety. 'No 
scholastic forms, no literary adornments, no sallies of 
enthusiasm can supply the place of deep and abiding 
convictions of the supreme importance of scriptural 
truth, as a means of saving the souls of men. The 
true motive and ruling design of preaching must ever 
be the salvation of the lost and perishing. Wherever 
this is lost sight of, whether by an individual or by a 
religious community, the power of preaching declines 
and the word becomes a dead-letter; it is no longer 
the word of life. Hence it will be seen that wher¬ 
ever the Sun of righteousness has been obscured by 
mists of error, or the Gospel trumpet has been made 
to give forth an uncertain sound, there preaching has 
deteriorated and become powerless for good, though 
often fruitful of evil. 

Let the student, therefore, be prepared to draw both 
positive and negative lessons of instruction from 
examples and from the history of preaching. 


94 


POSTILS. 


CHAPTER IV. 

THE VARIOUS PRODUCTS OF HOMILETICS. 

The science of homiletics is not limited to one form 
of production. It comprehends not only the sermon, 
but also those various other forms and styles of relig¬ 
ious discourse which have been publicly practiced 
and recognized at different periods of the history of 
the Church, such as exhortations, homilies, postils, 
and platform addresses.* 

These will now be severally treated in the inverse 
order of their present importance. 

§ 1. Postils. 

During the middle ages the Roman mass was re¬ 
garded as the principal part of divine service. If a 
discourse followed it was necessarily brief, and viewed 
in the light of a supplement; hence called a postilla 
or postil. The postil sustained a relation to the mass 
analogous to that of a postscript to a letter. Amid 
the published discourses of the later fathers postils 
are interspersed. The term itself is diminutive, and 
indicates a low estimate of preaching. Such an esti¬ 
mate prevailed during the medieval age, and with 
the progress of the Reformation both the idea and 

* The eccentric Edward Irving in the earlier part of his ministry- 
sought to popularize his pulpit addresses under the term orations. His 
first published volume was entitled, “ For the Oracles of God; four 
Orations.” His second was entitled, “ For Missionaries after*the Apos¬ 
tolic School; a Series of Orations.” The term, however, so far from 
having been adopted from him by others, was abandoned by himself at 
a later day, and the words, sermons, discourses, and homilies employed 
to designate his pulpit efforts. 


EAKLY OKIGIN OF HOMILIES. 95 

the practice of postillating were superseded by evan¬ 
gelical preaching. 

§2. Homilies. 

As explained in the first chapter, the term homily 
was in the early Church for a long period 
applied to ordinary Christian discourses. 

Its derivation from 6fitX£G)^ to converse familiarly ^ in¬ 
dicated the great freedom and plainness used by the 
early Christian preachers in distinction from the arts 
and ornaments of the rhetoricians. This term is 
definitely associated with the expository discourses of 
the fathers, both Greek and Latin, as in the case of 
the homilies of Chrysostom and Augustine. As illus¬ 
trated by these examples, its character corresponds 
very nearly to that of the expository style of sermon¬ 
izing. At a subsequent period homilies partook more 
of the nature of exhortations, or of the hortatory style 
of sermons. 


ENGLISH BOOK OF HOMILIES. 

The term homily in the English language has re¬ 
ceived a fixed signification from its attachment to a 
collection of plain discourses published officially for 
reading in the Church of England. This publication 
was made at an early period of the Keformation, when 
the clergy were very illiterate, and many of them in¬ 
capable of writing suitable sermons for their congre¬ 
gations. These facts are illustrated by the following 
extract of the preface to the Homilies appointed to 
be read in Churches in the time of Queen Elizabeth,” 
and published in the year 1562 : 

Considering how necessary it is that the word of God, which 
is the only food of the soul, and that most excellent light that 
we must walk by in this our most dangerous pilgrimage, should 


96 


THE QUEEN’S INJUNCTION. 


at all convenient times be preached unto the people, . . . and 
how that all they which are appointed ministers have not the 
gift of preaching sufficiently to instruct the people, which is 
committed unto them, whereof great inconveniences might rise 
and ignorance still be maintained, if some honest remedy be not 
speedily found and provided: the Queen’s most excellent majesty, 
The Queen’s tendering the souls’ health of her loving subjects and 
command. quieting of their consciences in the chief and 

principal points of Christian religion, . . . hath, by the advice 
of her most honorable counselors, for her discharge in this be¬ 
half, caused a Book of Homilies, which heretofore was set forth 
by her most loving brother, a prince of most worthy memory, 
Edward the Sixth, to be printed anew. 

All which homilies her majesty commandeth and straitly 
chargeth all Parsons, Vicars, Curates, and all others having spirit¬ 
ual cure, every Sunday and holiday in the year, ... in such 
order and place as is appointed in the Book of Common Prayers, 
to read and declare to their parishioners, plainly and distinctly, 
one of the said homilies in such order as they stand in the book, 
except there be a sermon . . . and then for that cause only, and 
for none other, the reading of the said homily to be deferred 
unto the next Sunday, or holiday following. And when the 
foresaid Book of Homilies is read over, her majesty’s pleasure is 
that the same be repeated and read again in such like sort as 
was before prescribed. 

These official injunctions to read the homilies have 
fixed the idiom of our language. Hence we always 
say read a Homily, and not preach or speak a homily, 
although the latter terms are intrinsically more ap¬ 
propriate to the original idea. 

CONTINENTAL BOOKS OP HOMILIES. 

The Church of England Homilies were by no means 
the first or only collection of the kind known to his¬ 
tory. ‘During the latter part of the medieval age 
collections of homilies for the whole Church year 
were in use, denominated Homiliarum. The selec¬ 
tions were chiefiy made from the ancient Church 


CONTINENTAL BOOKS OF HOMILIES. 97 

Fathers. A noted example is the Homiliarum of 
Charlemagne, which was not merely prepared by the 
order of that emperor, but was examined by him 
sheet by sheet as it was prepared by Alcuin and 
Paulus Diaconus, two leading divines of his day. 
The full title of this work, as translated from the 
Latin, reads as follows: 

Homilies or Sermons; or, Addresses to the People from the 
most renowned Doctors of the Church, Jerome, Augustine, Am¬ 
brose, Gregory, Origen, Chrysostom, and Bede; arranged in this 
order by Alcuin, a priest, by order of the Roman Emperor 
Charles Magnus, by whom also it was revised. 

MODERN MODIFICATIONS OF THE HOMILY. 

Without detracting in the least from the value of 
the homily in former days, it may now be considered 
obsolete as a form of pulpit instruction. With the 
general increase of knowledge no minister is tolerated, 
at least in any Protestant country, who is not com¬ 
petent to produce his own sermons, hence no book 
of homilies can release the minister from the task 
of preaching, while between formal sermons and in¬ 
formal platform addresses he has little call for homi¬ 
lies proper. That service which, in accordance with 
modern usages, most nearly resembles the homily is 
the week evening pastoral lecture, a service too often 
neglected by ministers and not appreciated by the 
people, but which, faithfully attended to, will usually 
prove of great advantage to both. In these exercises 
the different styles of homily are still appropriate. 

1. The first may be designated as a running para¬ 
phrase of the text, which may be a comprehensive 
portion of Scripture. 

2. The second is a verbal commentary upon the 
text, with inferences. 


7 


98 


PLATFORM ADDRESSES. 


3. Tlie third is a consecutive address founded 
upon a shorter passage of Scripture analogous to the 
textual sermon. 

The first is sometimes practiced with excellent re¬ 
sults in the domestic reading of the Scriptures, and 
also regularly by some preachers, the English more 
especially, in the reading of their public Scripture 
lessons. In the latter case the homily is made intro¬ 
ductory to the sermon. 

For suggestions applicable to the second and third 
kind of homilies, the reader is referred to the subject 
of expository preaching. 


§ 3. Platform Addresses. 

In all ages of activity in the Church there must 

Irregular forms mOYG Or leSS Call UpOU Chris- 

of address. ministers for irregular services, or 

addresses of various kinds, aside from the sermon or 
homily. Such would he the case in all the delibera¬ 
tive assemblies of the clergy, whether in diocesan 
conventions, synods, or councils. In the Roman 
Catholic Church the custom of celebrating festivals 
in honor of the saints caused panegyrics upon the 
saints to he in constant demand. At some periods 
these panegyrics remained as almost the only substi¬ 
tutes for sermons. Their construction was usually 
simple, in the narrative form, after the style of the 
panegyrical oration of the Greeks and Romans. In 
Protestant Churches the panegyric, as such, is un¬ 
known, but finds its nearest resemblance in the 
funeral sermons of worthy Christians. 

During the last century the increased activity of the 
Church has made new claims upon the ora- 

Demands of . n i ^ 

Christian en- torical powers 01 the ministry. There has 

terprise. • p , • . 

in tact, sprung up in Protestant countries a 


CHRISTIAN BENEVOLENCE. 


99 


style of Christian oratory unknown in former times. 
For lack of a better designation it may be indicated 
by the term platform addresses. This peculiar homi- 
letical production of the nineteenth century owes its 
origin to the necessities of numerous benevolent 
agencies, for which funds require to be solicited, and 
by means of which the philanthropic interests ofindi- 
viduals and communities are promoted. To attain 
these objects most effectually the formalities of the 
pulpit are laid aside, and a greater freedom of address 
encouraged. Not only in the cause of Christian 
missions, and its auxiliary enterprises of Bible and 
tract distribution, has the platform address been 
highly popular and useful, but also in that of tem¬ 
perance, an essential but recently developed branch 
of moral reform. Widows and orphan asylums, 
Sunday-schools, societies for the relief of the poor, 
the aged, and the blind, and, in fact, every species of 
benevolent effort have demanded, and will hereafter 
continue to demand, clerical advocacy. Consequently 
no minister of the present age is properly „„ 

prepared for his work who is not qualified the minister, 
to speak publicly and effectually in behalf of the 
various efibrts in which Christian men and Churches 
ought to engage. The minister should also be pre¬ 
pared to participate by appropriate public addresses 
in all patriotic and social anniversaries, turning them 
to a good moral and religious account. 

The platform, therefore, as representing the aux¬ 
iliaries and incidentals of an active Christianity, may 
be considered an important adjunct of the pulpit, de¬ 
serving not only the respect, but the interested prep¬ 
aration of every Christian minister. Of platform 
addresses it may be said, that while all the essential 
qualities of sermons are appropriate to them, it is less 


100 


CHAEACTEKISTICS. 


essential that they he pervaded with evangelical 
power. Platform addresses are expected to exhibit 
a greater freedom of manner and variety of 
Qualities. scrmons, while they demand less 

of thorough discussion and systematic arrangement. 
]N^evertheless, good materials, a wise distribution, 
and a spirited delivery are essential to their largest 
success. 

The Christian orator in a platform address should 
have special reference to the demands of the occasion 
and circumstances in which he speaks, involving the 
whole question of propriety as relating to his subject 
and audience. Mere excellences of thought or ele¬ 
gancies of diction are of little value without strict 
relevancy to the object in view, it being esstntially 
necessary to employ force of argument and expression 
with reference to practical and immediate results. 
At this point Christian oratory gains some of the ad¬ 
vantages which belong to judicial and forensic speak¬ 
ing, as well as to the demonstrative oratory of the 
Immediate and ^ncients. An immediate practical issue 
ultimate issues, ijgfore both Speaker and audience, and 
unless the issue is gained the address is a failure. 
Nevertheless, the speaker on a Christian platform 
should not confine himself to the immediate issue, 
but should aim beyond it, and hope to produce results 
of a good and lasting character in the future. 

ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS. 

In order to success in this kind of speaking a 
preacher or a Christian layman requires particularly 
to cultivate, 1. Self-possession; 2. General knowl¬ 
edge ; 3. Power of adaptation; 4. Felicity of illus¬ 
tration ; 5. Power of condensation. 

Long and prosy addresses are specially intolerable 


BREVITY ESSENTIAL. 


101 


on tlie platform. In this view, as also 
with reference to variety, several speak- ©Bsentiai. 
ers are usually engaged It is not always possible 
for them to know in advance, or, knowing, to avoid 
each other’s track of thought. Hence that breadth of 
knowledge which will always supply pertinent facts 
and considerations, that self-possession which will 
rise superior to sudden embarrassments, and that 
power of adaptation and illustration which will se¬ 
cure the attention, awaken the interest, and grasp the 
sympathies of an audience, are beyond expression 
desirable to the platform speaker. 

The prevailing error of this style of address is lev¬ 
ity, and yet it is not to be denied that a fund of chas¬ 
tened'humor is often highly conducive to the objects 
of platform speaking. While a just license may be 
allowed to humor on the platform, nothing is more 
important than that it be kept within due restraint, 
and made strictly subservient to the objects of the 
occasion. When it sinks to the low idea of merely 
furnishing amusement both speaker and audience are 
degraded.* 


§ 4. Exhortation. 

Exhortation is a primary form of Christian address. 
In periods of religious decline it has been greatly 

* The Rev. William Jay, of Bath, records in his autobiography cer¬ 
tain untoward circumstances which caused him, after a few trials, to 
refuse all subsequent applications to appear on the platform. He nev¬ 
ertheless continued to preach anniversary and “ charity ” sermons to 
the end of his life. He says : “ I the more readily adopted this resolu¬ 
tion as I had a plenitude of other pressing claims. I was also afterward 
confirmed in the propriety of it by Dr. Chalmers, who, when I was at 
his house in Glasgow, remarked, ‘ The pulpit is the preacher’s appropri¬ 
ate station, and he can there be most infiuential and useful by touching 
a number of springs which will set all in motion.’ Observation also has 
kept me from repenting of my resolution. I have seen that ministers 


102 


EXHORTATION. 


undervalued and often overlooked. ISTevertlieless, 
when suitably compreliended and practiced it will 
remain of permanent utility in the Churcb. 

The English word exhort comes directly from the 

Latin exliortor. which signifies to excite, 

T!fytnn1r>gy 7 0 7 

to encourage. By usage the word has 
come to signify to urge, to entreat, to compel with 
arguments. It is used most frequently, though not 
exclusively, in a religious sense. The scriptural use 
of the term exhortation is confined to the l^ew Testa¬ 
ment. It is first employed in Luke iii, 18 , in refer¬ 
ence to John the Baptist, of whom it is said, many 
other things in his exhortation preached he unto 
the people.” 

Thus we have the term at once associated with 
preaching, and by its position defined to be a partic- 
A species of mode of preaching, or of heralding 

preaching. Gospel. Preaclfing is the ge¬ 

nus, exhortation the species. Preaching is the com¬ 
prehensive term which embraces all modes of teach¬ 
ing and diffusing the truths of the Gospel by human 
speech. Exhortation is that branch or style of 

who as platform orators have figured much at these meetings have been 
sadly drawn off from keeping their own vineyards. Nor in general, on 
these occasions, are they the best or the most acceptable speakers. 
They are too professional, too sermonic. Laymen who speak more 
briefly, more simply, and apparently more from the heart, are com¬ 
monly more effective, and are heard to more advantage.” 

Remark.— While no countenance should be given to real or apparent 
neglect of the minister’s own vineyard, and while it is not supposed 
that all will be equally successful in this branch of effort, still the opin¬ 
ion may be maintained that ministers generally should seek to qualify 
themselves for usefulness on the platform. The very effort to avoid the 
defects and to cultivate the good qualities indicated by Mr. Jay will be 
useful to them in all their ministrations, while by their presence and 
cooperation they ought to exert a most salutary influence upon the char¬ 
acter of the popular assemblies in which they may mingle. The pro¬ 
priety of this course for ministers is much more obvious than that of 
becoming professional lecturers on miscellaneous subjects. 


SCKIPTURAL IDEA OF EXHORTATION. 103 


preaching in which appeal, entreaty, admonition, and 
consolation constitute the principal elements. 

SCRIPTURAL IDEA OF EXHORTATION. 

This view may be illustrated by some references to 
the original text. With two unimportant exceptions, 
the only Greek word of the I^ew Testament which 
is rendered exhort^ and the substantive of which is 
rendered exhortation^ is TrapaKaXeo), to call upon^ call 
to, call for, etc. Its use is frequent and its render¬ 
ings are various, such as beseech, desire, entreat, com¬ 
fort, and EXHORT. The substantive is rendered com¬ 
fort and consolation as well as entreaty and exhorta¬ 
tion. From the same verb is derived TrapdKXrjTog, the 
name frequently applied to the third person of the 
Holy Trinity and rendered the Comforter. Once it is 
applied to the Saviour himself, 1 John ii, 1; “We 
have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the 
righteous.” 

APOSTOLIC EXAMPLES. 

To illustrate more fully the scriptural idea of ex¬ 
hortation it may be well to collate a few of the pas¬ 
sages in which the term exhort is used. Peter’s dis¬ 
course on the day of Pentecost is an example of an 
apostolic exhortation. It makes several quotations 
of Scripture, but is based on no particular text. Acts 
ii, 14: “Peter, standing up with the. of 

eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto 
them. Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at 
Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken 
to my words.” After this brief introduction he pro¬ 
ceeded to quote the Prophet Joel and the Psalmist 
David, applying the words of prophecy to the events 
then transpiring, and giving his personal testimony 


104 


APOSTOLIC EXAMPLES. 


to the wicked crucifixion and glorious resurrection of 
the Lord Jesus Christ. In conclusion, Peter brought 
all the facts and reasoning of his discourse to a per¬ 
sonal issue, saying: “ Repent, and be baptized every 
one of you in the name of Jesus Christ. . . . And 
with many other words did he testify and exhokt, say¬ 
ing, Save yourselves from this untoward generation.” 

Another apostolic exhortation is reported in the 
Acts of the Apostles, xiii, 15. Paul and his company 
having arrived at Antioch, went into the synagogue 
on the Sabbath day and sat down. After the read¬ 
ing of the law and the prophets, “ the rulers of the 
synagogue sent unto them, saying. If ye have any 
Paid exhortation^ say on. Then Paul stood 

up, and beckoning with his hand said. Men of 
Israel, and ye that fear God, give audience.” The 
brief historic exhortation which followed was the in¬ 
troduction of the word of God into Antioch, the Gen¬ 
tiles immediately thereafter beseeching that “these 
words might be preached unto them the next Sab¬ 
bath.” 

In the same chapter it is recorded that Paul and 
Barnabas returned from Derbe to Lystra, to Iconium, 
and to Antioch, “ confirming the souls of the disci¬ 
ples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith.” 
Acts xiv, 22. 

In the following chapter it is stated that “ Judas 
and Silas, being prophets also themselves, (that is, 
religious teachers probably of an incipient grade,) 
exhorted the brethren with many words, and con¬ 
firmed them.” 

In the twentieth chapter of Acts, verse two, the 
whole of Paul’s second missionary tour through Mac¬ 
edonia is represented to have been chiefiy employed 
in exhortation. 


INFERENCES. 


105 


In the epistles the term exhort is frequently used; 
for example, Eom. xii, 8: ‘^He that exhorteth^ let 
him wait on exhoi^tation.^'^ 1 Thess. ii, 3, 4: “ For our 
exhortation was not of deceit, . . . but as we were 
allowed of God to be put in trust with the Gospel, 
even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, 
which trieth our hearts.” 1 Tim. iv, 13: “ Till I 
come, give attendance to reading, to exhortation^ to 
doctrine.” 1 Tim. vi, 2: “ These things teach and 
exhort.^'’ 2 Tim. iv, 2: “Preach the word; . . . 
reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and 
doctrine.” Titus i, 9 : A bishop should “ be able by 
sound doctrine both to exhort and convince gainsay- 
ers.” Titus ii, 15 : “ These things speak, and exhort^ 
and rebuke with all authority.” Heb. iii, 13: “ Ex¬ 
hort one another daily, while it is called To-day.” 

INFERENCES. 

The above and numerous other passages of Scrip¬ 
ture indicate several important particulars. 

1. That it was not beneath the dignity or foreign to 
the office of the inspired apostles frequently to exhort, 

2. That they enjoined a similar practice and the 
duty of exhortation upon young ministers of their 
day. 

3. That exhortation, as separate from preaching, 
was the special office of a certain class of religious 
teachers in the l^^ew Testament Church. 

4. That mutual exhortation for their own profit 
and edification was enjoined by the apostles upon 
Christians generally. 

THE GIET OF EXHORTATION. 

These scriptural examples and precepts remain on 
record for our instruction. It is not easy to determine 


106 


THE GIFT OF EXHORTATION. 


to what extent they have been operative in the his¬ 
tory -of the past, although it is certain that they have 
been greatly overlooked during long periods of relig¬ 
ious decline. It is no less certain that the primitive 
practice of religious exhortation has an intrinsic pro¬ 
priety adapted to all times and all circumstances of 
humanity. Even in the present day, when the plat¬ 
form address represents the march of progress, exhort¬ 
ation is also demanded as its spiritual counterpart. 
A certain element of secularity pervades the former. 
The latter, with its heart-appeals and holy energy, 
rings out like the clarion sound of the early Gospel. 
“As it is written, I believed, and therefore have I 
spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak.”* 

Ministers should covet earnestly the good gift of 
Should be cov- exhortation as a means of increasing their 
eted. moral and spiritual power. Laymen also, 

desiring to be useful, should seek to qualify them¬ 
selves to perform the same duty in their proper 
sphere. 

While the inherent right of thus laboring to pro¬ 
mote the cause of God is generally conceded to Chris¬ 
tian laymen, it is the custom of some Churches to 
make official appointment of exhorters as a primary 
grade of religious teachers, from which, after due 
trial, they advance to the more responsible office of 
preachers. This custom deserves commendation, since 
no more fitting elementary practice can be devised 
for young men contemplating the ministry than that 
prescribed by the Apostle Paul to Timothy: “ Give 
attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.” 

ISTot only is the practice of exhortation conducive 
Importance of to early and legitimate usefulness, but it 

early develop- ^ i ^ t 

ment. becoiues very advantageous to the indi- 

* 2 Cor. iv, 13. 


THE EXHORTEE. 


107 


vidual practicing it by calling into action those gifts 
and graces which are essential to success in riper 
years and larger fields of responsibility. To com¬ 
mence preaching too young is, in ordinary cases, 
greatly objectionable; but to wait in absolute inac¬ 
tion during the years necessary to accomplish a thor¬ 
ough education is still more so. 

By the latter course many a young man of lively 
sensibilities and ready utterance, and who only need¬ 
ed guidance, cultivation, and practice to qualify him 
for free and powerful eloquence, has been dwarfed 
into habits of dry artificiality, for which no degree of 
intellectual culture can adequately compensate. On 
the other hand, by judicious and constant practice 
even moderate talents have been developed into pow¬ 
erful agencies of usefulness, always increasing in pro¬ 
portion to the degree of knowledge and piety with 
which they are associated. 

The powers of ordinary speech are never so easily 
and properly developed as in childhood—nature’s 
own time. So in the religious life, the tongue of 
the witness for Jesus is never so readily loosed as 
in spiritual childhood. Those, therefore, who are 
born into the kingdom of Christ are from the first to 
be encouraged to speak for God in all appropriate 
ways; and when the Church deems any young man a 
hopeful candidate for the ministry she does well to 
commission him to exhort, and to encourage him in 
the duty while pursuing a course of study. 

The practical question now arises. How should 
such an exhbrter proceed ? His object is 
supposed to be identical with that of the 
minister of the Gospel, but his sphere is more limited. 
He does not wish to assume a character to which he 
has not yet attained, neither is he disposed to hide his 


108 


HIS CHARACTER. 


light under a bushel. He should, therefore, he true to 
himself and his circumstances. He may safely assume 
that most men know much more of Christian truth 
than they practice. Hence it is appropriate for him 
by earnest exhortation to arouse them to action and 
to duty. In this view he may select subjects which 
are familiar and truths which are self-evident, and 
proceed at once to urge upon the hearts and con¬ 
sciences of the people their immediate practice. 

Although not expected to take a text, as if to at¬ 
tempt a sermon, yet the exhorter is at full liberty to 
quote and apply portions of Scripture applicable to 
any topic of truth or duty. In fact the whole range 
of Scripture topics is before him, and he will find 
it a most appropriate and profitable exercise to col¬ 
late and quote with pertinence the Scripture teach¬ 
ings on any subject he may take up. As the chief 
topics of Scripture are eminently practical, so the 
variety of subjects appropriate to exhortation is un¬ 
limited. They may be treated in social religious 
meetings as among Christian brethren, or in promis¬ 
cuous assemblages. In the former case, consolation, 
quickening, and encouragement are the leading ob¬ 
jects; in the latter, admonition, warning, and en¬ 
treaty to flee from the wrath to come. 

The exhorter should be a man of faith and of 
prayer, and should wait on his exhortation with that 
combined meekness and zeal which will alike win 
the confidence of the Church and the respect of the 
world. He should guard against rambling and inco¬ 
herency of thought, but should never content himself 
without positive, if not immediate results of his 
labors. 

Early and proper attention to exhortation, as now 
commended, will prove an excellent preparation for 


OCCASIONS FOR EXHORTATION. 109 

hortatory preaching, and also for those hortatory 
addresses which need to be intermingled with practi¬ 
cal and even doctrinal discourses. Nor is exhorta¬ 
tion proper to be limited to laymen or Exhortation 
intending ministers. It is demanded Sn?di?the 
from ministers of the Gospel of every chureh. 
grade, in numberless forms, and on occasions that 
never cease to occur. In protracted meetings, at 
camp-meetings, in prayer-meetings, in class-meetings, 
and in all forms of extra efforts for the conversion of 
souls, a talent for exhortation is of inestimable value 
to the preacher and the pastor. 

OCCASIONS FOR EXHORTATION. 

Nor is the custom, heretofore prevalent, of follow¬ 
ing the sermon of a ministerial brother with a soul- 
stirring exhortation to be discarded. Let the exam¬ 
ple be supposed of a stranger having preached and 
enunciated important truths, but that, for lack of a 
personal acquaintance with the congregation, he has 
been unable to make those special and pertinent 
applications of truth so necessary to secure the most 
desirable results. It becomes the pastor to be able 
to seize upon the occasion, and to apply the subject 
with pertinence and energy to the hearts of the 
people. 

The case may be reversed. A pastor may have 
preached, and a stranger may be called on to exhort. 
To the latter is given a most interesting opportunity 
to enforce and illustrate truth from new points of 
view, and often congregations are greatly moved and 
edified by brief and timely addresses from visiting 
brethren. How puerile in such circumstances would 
seem the excuse, “ I am not prepared.” Indeed, how 
unworthy would it be of a Christian minister, a pub- 


110 


THE SERMON. 


lie teaclier, not to be prepared, both by bis education 
and his habits, to deliver an appropriate and pnngent 
exhortation whenever in fitting circumstances called 
on to do so. Let candidates lor the ministry then 
prepare themselves for such emergencies, and how¬ 
ever they may seek to become qualified for the deliv¬ 
ery of able and systematic sermons, let them seek to 
be also and always ready for fervent and powerful 
exhortations. Thus only may they worthily follow 
the example of the apostles. 

§5. The Sermon. 

The word sermon is derived from the Latin sermo^ 
a speech. It has been adopted into the languages of 
all Christian nations to signify, as the original Latin 
word from the third century came to signify, a 
formal religious discourse founded upon the word of 
Lrod. 

The products of Christian oratory, thus far consid¬ 
ered, are occasional; the sermon is regular. They 
rise or fall in importance with times and circum¬ 
stances. Thus the days of homilies and postils have 
already passed away, while that of platform addresses 
The Bermon be- is scarcely at its meridian; but the sermon 
nods. belongs alike to all periods. It was in¬ 

stituted by the Saviour, it was practiced by the apos¬ 
tles, and, having come down through the successive 
ages of the Church, is as important and as well 
adapted to the wants of the world to-day as it was in 
the beginning. Other homiletical products may be 
considered accessory, the sermon ultimate, as the 
great means of diffusing Christianity and of edifying 
the Church. The homily on a week-day evening 
may appropriately prepare the way for a sermon on 
the Sabbath, and an exhortation may fitly supple- 


OFFICES OF THE SEKMOH. 


Ill 


ment the sermon; but the sermon itself will continue 
to occupy the position of central and substantial im¬ 
portance. The sermon is especially adapted to the 
Sabbath day, and to Christian congregations. It is, 
however, no less appropriate on week-days, and 
before judicial or legislative assemblies. A sermon 
is ill place where even a few are gathered together in 
the name of Christ, and equally so to the largest 
gatherings of men. Sermons may be delivered in the 
hut and in the cathedral, on the mountain side or by 
the sea-shore, on shipboard and in military camps, 
and may be adapted to the instruction and profit of 
the people in all possible circumstances, sermon a 
The great mass of religious teaching is prSS'ofhJm- 
communicated in the form of sermons, 
and the sermon always has been and ever must 
remain the essential complement of the idea of 
preaching. 

While, therefore, the Christian minister should 
understand the character and uses of the minor 
homiletical products, and frequently employ them as 
tributaries and accompaniments to his sermons, 
nevertheless he should regard preaching in its nor¬ 
mal form as his standard work. The preparation 
and delivery of sermons is in fact to be the great 
business of his life. To this work he needs to 
devote his constant study and his diligent labor, 
his profoundest meditation and his most fervent 
prayers, that he may show himself “ approved unto 
God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, 
rightly dividing the word of truth.’’ 

In view of the great importance of the sermon, it 
is perhaps not surprising that some authors have 
treated it as if it involved the whole of homiletics. 
The work of Claude, ‘‘ On the Composition of a Ser- 


112 


OFFICES OF THE SERMON. 


mon,” is an instance in point, and represents a large 
class of treatises which only take cognizance of this 
single homiletical product. 

While taking exception to the technical impro¬ 
priety of this treatment of a part of the subject for 
the whole, it may nevertheless be conceded that the 
sermon involves the most essential principles of 
Christian oratory. • 

In accordance with this view, space will now be 
allotted for the discussion of principles which have a 
definite bearing upon all branches of the subject, 
although their most direct application is to sermons 
as the representative product of homiletics. 


PKOPRIETY OP THE USE OF TEXTS. 


113 


CHAPTER V. 

TEXTS OF SCRIPTURE AS THE THEMES OP 
SERMONS. 

§ 1. The Propriety of their Use. 

If the question be asked whether a text of Scripture 
is essential to a sermon, a negative answer may 
readily he given. As the word sermon signifies in 
its broadest sense a religious discourse, so there may 
be a large variety of religious discourses with or with¬ 
out texts. As Yinet justly says: “ A sermon may be 
Christian, edifying, instructive, without containing 
even one passage of Holy Scripture. It may be very 
biblical without a text, and with a text not biblical 
at all.” 

nevertheless, the question of the propriety of tak¬ 
ing texts as the themes of sermons may be emphati¬ 
cally answered in the affirmative. 

It is first to be observed that the custom is already 
in existence. It has come down to us from jjstabushed 
antiquity. It has been regarded useful in custom, 
the past, and it is sanctioned by general if not uni¬ 
versal usage at the present. 

Some persons have urged against the custom that 
it is liable to sundry abuses; for example, that of 
transcendentalists and semi-infidels, who objections 
take texts only to emasculate or ridicule considered, 
them; also of some preachers, who. only make the 
text a point of departure. While it is obvious that 
such practices are abuses, it is not conceded that 
they are justly chargeable upon the custom itself. 

8 


114 


ANALOGY OF JEWISH CUSTOM. 


Others urge that a more symmetrical discourse 
may he written or preached without the trammel of 
a text. While the last assertion is doubted, it may be 
confidently remarked that mere symmetry is far from 
being the proper end of preaching. At the same 
time it may be conceded that whenever a preacher, 
having duly considered the object of a given dis¬ 
course, and finding no suitable text in connection 
with which he can maintain the rhetorical unity or 
philosophic accuracy important to his object, he may 
feel at liberty to employ a discourse without a text, 
whether it most resembles a sermon, an oration, an 
essay, or an exhortation. Such cases, however, with 
evangelical preachers will be rare and exceptional. 

ANALOGY OF JEWISH CUSTOM. 

It has been customary with some to date the prac¬ 
tice of discoursing on passages of the sacred word 
from the example of Nehemiah, (ISTeh. viii, 8,) hereto¬ 
fore referred to.* As that example sprang from a 
peculiar and unusual service, growing out of the re¬ 
turn of the nation from captivity, it would be quite 
as correct to say that the custom in question was 
derived fcom a practice of the Jewish synagogues. 

It seems impossible now to determine with cer¬ 
tainty when synagogues originated. Some authors 
suppose as early as the days of Solomon ; others, with 
more probability, from the period of the exile. It is 
certain that before the Saviour’s advent they had 
become widely introduced; the Talmudists say where- 
ever there were ten families. 

As the object of these structures was to encourage 
spiritual worship apart from ceremonial observances, 
the reading of the law and the prophets appears to 

* Chap, ii, § 4. 


ANALOGY OF THE SAVIOUE’S EXAMPLE. 116 

have been a part of their service from the beginning. 
Various allusions in the 'New Testament confirm this 
view, but especially the statement of Paul in Acts 
XV, 21: ‘‘For Moses of old time (from the ancient 
generations) hath in every city them that preach him, 
being read in the synagogues every Sabbath day.” 
In Acts xiii, 27, he speaks of the prophets in similar 
language as being “ read every Sabbath day.” 

While preaching in any proper sense was not a* 
part of the synagogue service, yet it was evidently 
customary for the elders of the Jews, after the read¬ 
ing of the Scriptures had closed, to speak to the 
people, and doubtless with reference to the sacred 
text which had been read in their hearing. 

ANALOGY OF THE SAVIOUR’S EXAMPLE. 

Our Saviour sanctioned this custom by regular 
attendance upon the synagogue and participation in 
the reading service. Witness the narrative in Luke 
iv, 16: “As his custmrh was^ he went into the syn¬ 
agogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. 
And there was delivered unto him the book of the 
prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, 
he found the place where it was written. The Spirit 
of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed 
me to preach the Gospel to the poor,” etc. He then 
proceeded to identify the custom of reading a text of 
Scripture with his own glorious agency of preaching 
the Gospel. “ And he began to say unto them. This 
day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears. And all 
bare him witness, and wondered at the gracious words 
which proceeded out of his mouth.” 

The fact also that Christ in his Sermon on the 
Mount, and many other of his discourses, freely quoted 
the Old Testament Scriptures and commented upon 


116 THE PEACTICE OF THE APOSTLES AND FATHEKS. 

them, is sufficient to sanction both the spirit and the 
letter of the present custom. 

THE PRACTICE OF THE APOSTLES AND FATHERS. 

The example of the apostles bears upon the same 
point. For although we do not find them taking 
texts in precisely the modern style, yet in all their 
prominent religious addresses they appear to have 
'introduced passages of Scripture as a basis of instruc¬ 
tion, argument, and appeal. The example of Peter, 
reported Acts ii, IT; of Stephen, Acts vii, 2, 3; and 
of Paul, Acts xxvi, 22, may be fairly supposed to 
represent the habit of all the apostles. 

There is no more satisfactory way of accounting 
for the general prevalence of a similar custom in the 
early Church than by supposing that it descended 
from the apostles to the fathers, and by them was 
handed down to the Church in later ages. Certain 
it is that the custom was thoroughly established at 
the earliest periods from which the sermons of the 
fathers have come down to us, and that it has pre¬ 
vailed at all succeeding periods. 

THE INHERENT FITNESS OF THE CUSTOM. 

The early and general prevalence of the custom, 
if it be not authoritative, is at least instructive. It 
shows us that there is an inherent fitness in the prac¬ 
tice of using texts as the themes of sermons from 
which neither time nor circumstances can detract. 
Indeed, without texts there would have been no ser¬ 
mons. In other words, but for the essential basis 
of the word of God Christian oratory would have 
been something entirely different from what it is. 

The general principle that a portion of Scripture 
should be announced as embracing the subject of a 


THE OBJECT OF EMPLOYING TEXTS. IIT 

sermon does not limit the preacher to a single passage, 
but comprehends within itself the various forms 
which in practice texts assume, from a few words to a 
paragraph, or even a chapter. E’er is it necessary to 
be announced before commencing the sermon. Often¬ 
times an introduction preliminary to the text will 
awaken peculiar interest both in the text and the 
subject. 


§ 2. The Object of employing Texts. 

1. The first object proposed in the employment of 
a text is to make a suitable recognition of Kecognition of 
God’s Word as the great theme of all God’s word. 
Christian preaching. 

When a preacher appears before an audience and 
announces a portion of Holy Writ as the subject of 
his discourse, in that very act he proclaims its author¬ 
ity. In exhibiting his own reverence for the sacred 
canon he challenges the homage of his hearers for 
that which is superior to all human wisdom. 

By this act he also strengthens his own position, 
since there is a vast difference between coming before 
an audience in his own name and with a message of 
his own devising, and coming in God’s name with a 
message from heaven. 

2. By means of a Scripture text the preacher secures 
a valid basis for the instruction of men. 

Instead of appearing to promulgate his own the¬ 
ories, or to announce merely the opinions The right basis 
of mortals like himself, he comes as a 
steward of the manifold mysteries of God. He comes 
as an embassador of Christ, proclaiming terms of rec¬ 
onciliation to offending rebels. He comes to the 
slaves of lust and sin and offers them truth which will 
make them free indeed. 


118 


ADVANTAGES OF TEXTS. 


It is not necessary that tlie subject of a sermon be 
strictly identical with the words of a text. The grand 
principle is, that the subject be found within the text 
and be legitimately deducible from it. The text is 
always greater than the subject; and as the greater 
contains the less, so the text usually embraces several 
subjects, whereas the sermon should always be con¬ 
fined to one. An illustration of the multiplicity of 
subjects or possible themes contained in a single text 
is given further along.* 

3. The use of texts tends to variety in preaching. 

The Word of God not only furnishes an unwasting 

supply of truth, but presents that truth in the most 
interesting and diversified forms. It may indeed be 
Texts tend to doubted whether any truth necessary to 
variety. man’s instruction in righteousness and the 
way of salvation has not some form of statement in 
the Holy Scriptures. 

Although rarely given in abstract declarations, it 
may be found in narratives, historic statements, and 
even in those nice shades of character which the pen 
of inspiration has delineated with such inimitable 
grace. 

To be impressed with the infinite variety which the 
Scriptures contain and suggest, one has only to reflect 
that, while for ages they have supplied the richest 
themes for human thought and instruction, they are 
now, like a living fountain or a boundless ocean, as 
exhaustless as ever. Who, then, would not resort for 
subjects of pulpit address to this well-spring of living 
waters rather than to that shallow source, his own 
ingenuity ? 

4. Texts aid the memory, and stimulate the future 
thoughtfulness of the hearer. 

* Chap, vi, p. 148; chap, vii, p. 169. 


ABUSES OF TEXTS. 


119 


If according to a rhetorical maxim the discourse 
be the topic expanded, in like manner the 
topic is the discourse condensed. When, 
therefore, that topic is a text of Scripture it serves as 
a rallying point to memory, around which the in¬ 
structions of the sermon will cluster. Thus the 
leading texts of Scripture become the foci of recol¬ 
lection, to which the teachings of scores of sermons 
converge, and from which they will radiate in appli¬ 
cation to practical life. 

The above and many other considerations admonish 
the minister of the Lord Jesus to preach the word 
rather than topics of his own devising, and also never 
to introduce into his preaching anything out of har¬ 
mony with the sacred text. 

ABUSES OF TEXTS. 

While the proper object of using texts of Scripture 
in preaching is invested with an importance so intrin¬ 
sic, there are flippant modes of complying with the 
custom that deserve reprobation. One is that of 
making the text a point of departure, from which the 
preacher seeks to disembarrass himself as soon as 
possible; and another is that of prefacing the text as 
a mere motto to an essay, or a harangue independently 
prepared. 

Such trifling with texts cannot be too severely cen¬ 
sured. Nevertheless, there is a style of treatment in 
which a text taken as a motto may be most forcibly 
employed for instruction, illustration, and encourage¬ 
ment ; in which, indeed, both the letter and spirit of 
the sacred motto may be so inwrought as to pervade 
and hallow the whole discourse. 


120 


THE CHOICE OF TEXTS. 


§3. Texts should be chosen with Cake and 
Solicitude. 

The choice of a text being the initial step in the 
construction and delivery of a sermon, it is an act 
which should be performed with deliberate thought¬ 
fulness, and a devout anxiety for the divine guidance. 
Nothing is more appropriate at this earlier stage of 
effort than to seek direction from on high in devout 
and special prayer. 

A moment’s reflection upon the eternal conse- 
careiessnesare- fluences that may issue from the preaching 
buked. single sermon in the name of the great 

Author and Finisher of faith should be sufficient to 
effectually rebuke the hap-hazard carelessness and 
the reckless self-conceit with which texts are sometimes 
taken and treated, and to impress every true minister of 
the Gospel with the duty of choosing his texts in such a 
frame of mind as may harmonize with the divine guid¬ 
ance as often as he may perform that important task. 

It is not presumptuous to suppose that prayers for 
divine influence in a matter so accordant with the 
will of God may receive direct answers, either by a 
special quickening of the mind, a holy impulse upon 
the soul, or a sacred control of the judgment. Nev¬ 
ertheless, no one would be justifled in relying on 
divine aid without making diligent use of the powers 
that God has given him for self-help. Hence the re¬ 
mark which follows. 

§4. Judicious Habits of Selection should be 
Cultivated. 

The practical question now arises. In what way 
may a minister, with the least loss of time and with 
the greatest prospect of success, make his selection of 
texts for sermons ? 


HELPS TO A RIGHT CHOICE. 121 

There are cases in which well-intentioned men 
have fallen into habits of an opposite character, that 
have entailed upon them great indecision Rea^tBof bad 
of mind, followed by loss of time and 
agonizing suspense; in short, causing them to con¬ 
sider the selection of a text more difficult than* the 
preparation of a sermon. To guard against such 
habits, and the embarrassments most likely to arise 
in emergencies, it is necessary to make systematic 
preparation in advance. 

In answer, therefore, to the question above stated, 
the first thing to be commended is the special and 
habitual consultation of the Scriptures as the source 
of pulpit themes. 

1. A minister’s critical and devotional reading of 
the Bible, next to the spiritual profit of his own soul, 
should constantly contemplate the collection of 
themes for public discourse. Whatever interest, 
instruction, or profit we personally derive from the 
perusal or study of any portion of Scripture, may in 
all probability be made a means of instruction and 
profit to others. 

2. In addition to bmng on the alert to find manna 
for the fiock while seeking his own spiritual nourish¬ 
ment, a minister should search the Scriptures spe¬ 
cially and frequently for the express object of finding 
passages that he may use as texts in preaching. 
Here is a department of Scripture study peculiar to 
the minister of the Gospel—the Bible as a book of 
themes for the preacher. By studying it as such he 
will often make new and valuable discoveries in the 
very paths he has trod before as a student or a devo¬ 
tional reader, without having perceived the ores and 
gems which glittered at his feet. 

3. As a prudential and labor-saving process, he 


122 


THE CLASSIFICATION OF TEXTS. 


should classify and record from time to time the 
texts upon which his mind fixes as adapted to pulpit 
ministrations. Such a record, made by each preacher 
for himself, and as the fruit of his own 

ClasBiflcation. ^ i i i i 

study, may become to him invaluable as 
a source of reference in the future.* 

Some individuals prefer to avoid this labor, and to 
rely on the convenient compilations of others for 
assistance of this kind. It is not denied that an ana¬ 
lytical concordance, and several printed classifications 
of Scripture, are often both convenient and useful to 
the preacher; f but they are generally too vague and 
cumbrous for the special object now proposed. They 
are better adapted to aid in collecting proof-texts, 
and in furnishing synoptical views of concurrent 
Scriptures; whereas special benefit accrues to the 
preacher from the act of making his own selection 
and classification. 

As a counterpart of the foregoing suggestions, it 
may be added that subjects sometimes occur to the 
mind in advance of texts. Frequently, indeed, spe¬ 
cial circumstances or providences dictate subjects to 
the preacher, and place him under the necessity 
of finding Scriptures which express the mind of the 
Spirit with reference to those subjects. 

Thus death or sudden calamity, becoming a neces¬ 
sary topic of discourse, may suggest to one’s mind 
texts which we would not have selected in advance, 

* “ How do you obtain your texts ?” said a friend to the seraphic 
Thomas Spencer, of Liverpool. He replied, “ I keep a little book, in 
which I enter every text of Scripture which comes into my mind with 
power and sweetness. Were I to dream of a passage of Scripture I 
should enter it, and when I sit down to compose I look over the book 
and have never found myself at a loss for a subject.” 

+ Of these, Gaston’s Collections, Locke’s Commonplace-Book of 
Scripture, the Analytical Concordance, and the Law and the Testimony, 
may be mentioned as excellent. 


PEINCIPLES TO GUIDE CHOICE. 123 

or may put us on a special search which seldom fails 
to be rewarded. 


GUIDING PRINCIPLES. 

Another practical question here arises: On what 
principles are we to choose a particular text or sub¬ 
ject from the numerous possible ones that might be 
treated at a given time ? 

It may be answered negatively, 1. That we should 
not choose this or that subject merely because we 
happen to have a sermon written or prepared upon it. 
2. ^lor merely because it would seem easier to 
treat this or that text. Indeed, these circumstances 
may become strong reasons why we should take other 
subjects •and different texts, and exercise ourselves to 
new and special preparations. No pre*acher should 
confine himself to a narrow range of familiar subjects, 
or allow himself to fall into particular ruts of thought 
, outside of which he cannot move or act with 
freedom. Nor should any one be content to con¬ 
sult his own ease at the expense of that variety 
which is equally essential to impart vivacity to his 
own mental action and interest to the minds of his 
hearers. 

On the other hand, 1. We may choose a particular 
subject because, from our best knowledge and judg¬ 
ment, it seems to be specially adapted to 

’ 1 1 Adaptation. 

the circumstances and wants oi our hearers. 

It is not improper to suppose that there may be, 
each particular Sabbath of the year, some subject or 
subjects which in the order of Providence are more 
particularly applicable to a given congregation than 
they ever will be at any other time. 

To be able to determine with correctness what 
these special subjects are is the great desideratum, 


124 


STUDY OF ADAPTATION. 


and should be the constant anxiety of the preacher. 
A faithful compliance with the following precepts 
will greatly conduce to the attainment of an ability 
so much to be desired. 

Means of ascer- By diligent pastoral intercourse study 
tamingadapta spiritual couditiou and necessities of 

your people. 

By careful attention to the various events in which 
they are or ought to be interested, such as danger 
from a prevailing epidemic, or a religious awakening 
in its various stages, learn to discriminate closely, 
and fit the right topic to the right time. 

By a careful study of your own heart learn what 
are the evils and the longings of the hearts around 
you, and wisely to apply the provisions of the 
Gospel.* 

If in none of these ways a special subject is sug¬ 
gested, 2. We may have recourse to those general 
and standard topics of Christianity which can never 
be out of place, and in which all congregations need 
to be thoroughly instructed. 

In preaching to strange congregations we must 
almost of necessity be governed by this 

standard topics. _ at* ^ i • 

rule. And m our several congregations 
we should feel obligated to treat these subjects in due 
proportion, and systematically if possible, both for 
their good and in compliance with our duty, to de¬ 
clare the whole counsel of God. 


* Said Eobert Cecil: “A young minister must learn to separate and 
select his materials. A man who talks to himself will find out what 
suits the heart of man: some things respond; they ring again. Nothing 
of this sort is lost on mankind; it is worth its weight in gold for the 
service of the minister. He must remark, too, what it is that puzzles and 
distracts the mind: all this is to be avoided. It may wear the garb of 
deep research, great acumen, and extensive learning; but it is nothing 
to the mass of mankind.” 


VARIETY. 


125 


With such resources at hand, and the whole word 
of God open before him, it is difficult to imagine 
how any active and furnished mind can ever feel the 
lack of important themes adapted to any occasion. 
Equally difficult is it to understand how some preach¬ 
ers can content themselves to be laying over and 
over again the same foundations of familiar truth, as 
though none had ever built upon them, or need now 
to be carried up the progressive heights of Christian 
knowledge and experience. 

3. With all else a preacher should have constant 
reference to the variety of subjects and mat¬ 
ter needed by his hearers, not only from 
year to year and from month to month, but also from 
Sabbath to Sabbath, and even in successive services 
of the same Sabbath. 

This principle shows that the old habit of preach¬ 
ing twice on the same text the same day, “ conclud¬ 
ing the subject in the afternoon” or evening, was 
highly objectionable. It is admissible now only in 
very rare circumstances. Equally objectionable is the 
practice of an undue subdivision of themes in serial 
discourses, like that of preaching ten or fifteen ser¬ 
mons consecutively on the Lord’s prayer. 

§ 5. Kules applicable to the Selection of Texts. 

Certain general rules relating to this subject have 
long been current, and have not only received the 
sanction of the best writers on homiletics, but the ap¬ 
probation of all preachers of good judgment. Their 
substance may be briefly stated, as follows: 

1. In all cases choose texts which make a complete 
sense. 

2. Choose a text which embraces legitimately and, 
if possible, obviously the subject of the sermon. 


126 TEXTS INDICATE THE QUALITY OF PEE ACHING. 

3. As to language, select those which are perspic¬ 
uous, pertinent, full, and yet simple. 

4. Select those which are of medium length; neither 
too long, and consequently embracing too many sub¬ 
jects, nor abruptly short. 

Corresponding to these rules preachers should avoid 
selecting texts which are odd, for the double reason 
that such a proceeding is beneath the dignity of a 
serious minister, and that the idea of quaintness is un¬ 
favorable to purity and depth of religious impression. 

Avoid also, especially as young preachers, select¬ 
ing texts which are very difficult, lest you should 
embarrass without profiting both yourself and your 
hearers. 

By all means avoid using texts which are of doubt¬ 
ful application to the subject in hand, lest both your 
judgment and your religious integrity should be im¬ 
peached by such a course. 

In conclusion, it may be remarked that a preacher’s 
character is in no small degree indicated by the class 
or classes of texts which he habitually selects. This 
principle is strikingly illustrated in a passage from 
Dr. Eaffies’s Memoir of Spencer: 

The passages of Scripture selected by Mr. Spencer as the sub¬ 
jects of his eai’liest discourses afford another demonstration, in 
addition to many others, of the general bias of his mind. They 
are such as one may well imagine a preacher panting for the 
salvation of his fellow-men would select for the commencement 
of his public labors. 

The topics which they suggest are of all others the most sol¬ 
emn, as they are the most simple and the most important in the 
whole range of inspired truth, and hence they were best adapted 
to the preacher’s age and the unlettered character of his auditors. 

Such texts are as available now as in the days of 
Spencer; and if the reader finds himself inclined to 


PREACH ON GREAT SUBJECTS. 


127 


pass them bj in his search for those that are merely 
curious and entertaining, or those on which he can 
make a display of his ingenuity or his learning, let 
him be admonished to a better course. 

“ Preach on great subjects,” is the urgent advice of 
that excellent writer. Dr. J. W. Alexander. He says; 

A man should begin early to grapple with great subjects. An 
athlete (2 Tim, ii, 5) gains might only by great exertions. So 
that a man does not overstrain his powers, the more he wrestles 
the better; but he must wrestle, and not merely take a great sub¬ 
ject and dream over it or play with it. No two men will treat 
the same subject alike unless they borrow from one another. 

The great themes are many. They are such as move the feel¬ 
ings; the great questions which have agitated the world—which 
agitate our own bosoms—which we should like to have settled be¬ 
fore we die—which we should ask an apostle about if he were here. 
These are to general Scripture truth what great mountains are in 
geography. Some, anxious to avoid hackneyed topics, omit the 
greatest; just as if we should describe Switzerland and omit the 
Alps. Some ministers preach twenty years, and yet never preach 
on the judgment, hell, the crucifixion, nor on those great themes 
which in all ages affect children and affect the common mind, 
such as the deluge, the sacrifice intended of Isaac, the death of 
Absalom, the parable of Lazarus. The Methodists constantly 
pick out these striking themes, and herein they gain a just ad¬ 
vantage. 

Let such advices he taken in due connection with 
those other principles which should govern the 
preacher’s plans of labor and they cannot fail to be 
profitable. 


128 


GENEEAL VIEWS OF THE SUBJECT. 


CHAPTEE VI. 

AGENCIES OP PULPIT PREPARATION. 

§ 1. General Views of the Subject. 

From ancient times systematic writers on rhet¬ 
oric have divided the agencies of oratorical produc¬ 
tion into invention, disposition, and elocution, mean¬ 
ing by the latter term what we now understand by 
style. In homiletics there is no sufficient reason for 
departing from this mode of division any further than 
the peculiar nature of the subject requires. 

The chief difference of this character arises at the 
threshold. The preacher is not at liberty to invent^ 
or to say what he may please on themes furnished 
him by revelation. Here it is that God speaks, and 
man is simply an interpreter. This fact also modifies 
the task of invention by making its principal work 
the illustration of what revelation teaches. 

In a certain broad sense, that of “ finding what is 
proper to be said,” invention is sometimes not incor- 
. rectly represented to cover the whole process of ora¬ 
torical preparation. In this sense invention finds the 
theme of discourse, and both the matter and the 
language of its treatment. Some writers go so far 
as even to include disposition under invention as a 
generic term. 

To avoid a vagueness so unphilosophical, and at the 
same time to adopt an analysis of definite signifi¬ 
cance and practical utility, it is better to consider the 
whole subject of pulpit preparation, not including 
religious experience, as divisible into two great 


ELEMENTS OF PREPAKATION. 129 

brandies: first, that relating to thought ; second, 
that relating to language. 

I. The mental preparation for preaching requires, 

I. Interpretation. 2. Invention. 3. Disposition. 

II. The lingual preparation for preaching requires, 

1. The selection of the particular words in which 
to express the thoughts designed to he conveyed; or, 

2. The acquisition of a capacity to clothe thoughts 
with fitting language at the moment when expression 
is desired. 

Elocution, in the modern sense of the public deliv¬ 
ery of discourse, is clearly distinct from important dis- 
preparation either of thought or of Ian- 
guage. It is • the executive act which attempts to 
secure the result of preparation. A sermon may be 
mentally prepared, but not composed in language. 
It may even be composed in language and yet not 
delivered. Thus far all is preparation. The idea of 
preaching is only realized in the delivery. Preach¬ 
ing is radically defective which lacks good matter for 
delivery, and poor delivery may render ineffective the 
best of matter. 

Thus it may be seen that the act of preaching is 
highly complex, requiring thorough preparation in 
various forms. . 

The present chapter relates specifically to mental 
preparation. 

Supposing the text to be selected as the general 
theme of a sermon, the next step on the part of the 
preacher is to gather materials for the construction 
of the discourse. As every sermon demands a theme^ 
so every theme requires elucidation. In the sense 
that the oak is latent in the acorn, the sermon may 
be considered latent in the text. The oak is not de¬ 
veloped without the influence of external agencies, 
9 


130 


SUCCESSIVE STEPS. 


such as earth, moisture, warmth, and air. So a ser¬ 
mon is not produced without the application of suit¬ 
able developing agencies to the text or theme. 

The first and most important of these agencies is 
interpretation, by which we ascertain the meaning 
of the text, the “ mind of the Spirit.” The second is 
invention, by which the meaning of the text is eluci¬ 
dated both as to its internal and its external relations. 
The third is disposition, by which the materials gath¬ 
ered by interpretation and invention are arranged 
for the most effective presentation to the minds of 
others. 

These several processes should precede verbal corn- 
ideas not always position, except so far as words may be the 
words. necessary vehicles or retainers of thought. 

Some ideas, those of number, for example, are only 
held in the mind in a verbal form. Most other ideas 
are grasped and retained in that mentally visible form 
denominated conception. Ideas or facts are con¬ 
ceived, but not in definite association with words. 
Mental conceptions indeed may be latent, that is, un¬ 
consciously held in the mind until called forth by some 
association or effort which arrays them visibly before 
the mind’s eye. 

The task of clothing such conceptions in words or 
forms of expression is subsequent and distinct. It 
may be differently performed at different times. The 
preacher should seek to perform it at the most favor¬ 
able time for the unity and effectiveness of his dis¬ 
course. This rarely if ever can be till the whole plan 
of the discourse is thoroughly digested. To employ 
another figure, when the matter is thoroughly fused 
in the mind it may be cast by a single turn into the 
mould, and thus produce a form of uniform quality and 
just proportions. Whereas to cast a statue little by 


PERIOD FOR COMPOSITION. 


131 


little, or in separate pieces requiring to be subsequent¬ 
ly joined together, is to hazard the strength and en¬ 
danger the proportions of the whole. 

It is not only easier but far better to compose ideas 
first and words subsequently as the portraiture of the 
ideas. Hence it is a gross error to commence the 
composition of a sermon by merely adding words to 
words. Verbal associations are often fascinating, 
and their tendency is to lead the mind astray from 
the luminous track of thought, or to bewilder it with 
pleasing but incoherent fancies. Word-composition 
is important in its place, but that place is always in 
sequence of thought-composition. 

Fuseli, in reference to painting, has said, ‘‘He 
alone can conceive and compose who sees the whole 
at once before him.” So in sermonizing, no man can 
compose with the highest degree of vividness and 
power until his mind grasps the idea of his composi¬ 
tion in its entirety. To form that idea materials are 
first wanted. The construction or arrangement of a 
plan ensues. Then follows the appropriate time for 
word-composition, which, like the last touches of the 
painter’s pencil, finishes up the picture. 

Let it not be objected that this is a mechanical 
process, or supposed that it is necessarily 
long and tedious. By suitable discipline 
and practice the interval between the several pro¬ 
cesses may be imperceptible; that is, the preacher 
may be enabled to see so clearly at a glance the whole 
outline of his subject as to be ready to commence 
word-composition at once. 

But it is not usually so, certainly with beginners. 
Indeed, the cases are rare among the most practiced 
sermon-writers where advantages may not be gained, 
and the power of a discourse greatly increased, by 


132 


INTERPEETATION. 


thorough mental elaboration of the materials and the 
plan in advance of verbal composition. Hence it is 
safe to recommend careful attention to the usual ele¬ 
mentary steps, which, however laboriously performed 
at first, will when familiar to habit be passed over 
with ease and celerity. 

§2. Interpretatioit. 

That interpretation is of primary and indispensable 
importance to every preacher of the word is obvious 
from the nature of the case. 

-1. His business is to proclaim the truth of God, 
and interpretation makes that truth known to him. 
He is not at liberty to substitute for God’s teachings 
human science or the products of his own imagina¬ 
tion. In respect to the matter of his preaching, he 
has simply to inquire what is the mind of the Spirit, 
what the will and teaching of the Lord is. 

2. An opposite course would be inconsistent with 
suitable respect for the authority of God’s word. 
Practically it would not only throw contempt upon 
the sacred volume, but also close up the only avenue 
of true light upon all religious subjects. 

A habit of reliance upon personal talent or human 
skill to supply the material of preaching rather than 
a devout study of the living oracles” may in some 
instances tend to magnify one’s self, but will uniformly 
tend to dishonor God and to darken his counsel with 
words. 

The proper office of interpretation being recognized 
by the preacher, it becomes necessary for him to 
practice the rules which hermeneutics, or the science 
of interpretation, has established. Here let it be 
distinctly stated that no preacher of the Gospel 
should content himself with limited and fragmentary 


BIBLICAL STUDY. 133 

studies of the word of God. It is certainly his duty 
to make a special study of particular texts; importance of 
but in order to do that with the greatest 
profit, he should have previously studied the Scrip¬ 
tures and the various books of Scripture connectedly. 
Especially should he have made himself familiar with 
the original tongues of the Bible, that he may not be 
wholly dependent on translators and commentators 
for the sense of a text. On the other hand, by habit¬ 
ually reading the sacred text in the original he should 
have become prepared to transfuse into his preaching 
the idiom and spirit of the sacred writers. 

'No class of studies is more tributary to sacred elo¬ 
quence than this; and if secular orators make it 
their habit to read over and over again in the original 
the orations of Cicero and Demosthenes, in order to 
derive polish and inspiration from classic models, 
how much more important is it that preachers should 
familiarize themselves with both the letter and the 
spirit of the inspired writers. Even if the perfection 
of their style were a principal object this would be 
important, and it is vastly more so when the knowl¬ 
edge of the truth is involved. 

RULES. 

The following rules of interpretation, condensed 
from Angus’s “Introduction to the Study of the 
Sacred Scriptures,” will serve as an index to the 
preacher’s course of duty at this point. They are 
equally applicable to the study of the original and 
of translations. 

1. Ascertain the sense of the words of'the text in 
their general or common usage, noting their idioms 
and peculiarities of application. 

2. Ascertain the particular meaning of the words 


134: 


PRACTICAL ADVICES. 


in tlie given text. For example, 1. Whether nsed 
literally or figuratively; 2. Their signification as 
limited by their connection. 

3. Study the context, in which there,may some¬ 
times be found, 1. Definitions; 2. Limitations; 3. Ex¬ 
planatory examples; 4. Parallelisms; 5. Allusions; 
6. Interpretation of figures. 

4. Study the scope of the passage, the writer, the 
book, etc. This enables us to understand the design 
of the inspired author, and the general and special 
relations of the text. 

5. Compare Scripture with Scripture to ascertain 
the analogy of faith, or the whole teaching of the 
word of God on the subject. 

PRACTICAL ADVICES. 

To these general rules for the investigation of a 
text preparatory to preaching the following advices 
may be added. 

Use concordances freely, not only the English, but 
Concordance Greek and Hebrew. It is only in 

and references. Spirit of rulcS 1, 2, and 5 

can be complied with. The comparison of texts by 
aid of the common reference Bibles, although useful, 
is usually insufficient. Much more extended ref¬ 
erences, though not always pertinent, may be secured 
by means of Bagster’s Scripture Treasury, which, 
taking up each chapter and verse of the Bible in 
order, illustrates words and phrases by references and 
parallel passages as fully as possible. *But the ref¬ 
erences even in that work are usually based on the 
resemblances of the English translation, whereas the 
corresponding or contrasted uses of the original terms 
are often, still more full of instruction. 

Copy and collate passages of Scripture for yourself. 


COLLATIOJf OF PASSAGES. 


135 


A great advantage is .often gained by spread¬ 
ing out before one’s eye, as in panoramic 
view, the whole teaching of God’s word on a given 
subject. The object of the preacher at this stage of 
his preparation is to gain ideas, not only of the in¬ 
herent, but also of the related meaning of his text. 
To this end the labor of special collation is highly 
tributary. Moody’s “New Testament illustrated by 
Scripture” is designed to lessen this species of labor, 
and is a useful help to the preacher; but it is insuffi¬ 
cient, not only for the reason of its not illustrating 
any portion of the Old Testament, but because no 
help is so advantageous as to render unnecessary 
personal examinations and comparisons with a view 
to particular objects. 

In the whole process of interpretation be mindful 
of your dependence on God for light, and prayerful 
for the aid of the Holy Spirit. 

• When by these and any othel appropriate means 
a preacher has ascertained the full meaning and the 
various bearings of his text, he is just prepared to en¬ 
ter upon an active use of his own powers of invention. 

§ 3. Invention. 

Before discussing the subject of invention, it is 
desirable to fix as definitely as possible the meaning 
of the term. Few terms have been more 

- . ^ The term. 

loosely employed b}^ writers on rhetoric and 
homiletics. Some speak of invention as an art; 
others, as intimated above, treat it as a form or 
result of mental action covering the entire ground 
of oratorial preparation; while a third class speak of 
it as an “active spring,” or “energy of the mind.” 
The first signification is that of the Greek and Ro¬ 
man rhetoricians, and partakes of the vagueness which 


136 


MENTAL POWEKS. 


at their period obscured all philosophy: the second 
involves an equal degree of vagueness from too wide 
an application; while the third, which is in itself 
correct, has hitherto lacked that specific treatment 
which gives the inventive faculty its just classifica¬ 
tion among the recognized powers of the intellect. 

An apology for this neglect may be found in the 
Divergent hitherto Unsettled state of mental science, 
views. confiicting forms of classification still 

prevalent among authors on that subject. Indeed, 
the nature of the subject seems to leave room for a 
perpetual divergence of views respecting the number 
and the exact character of the mental powers. 

Sir William Hamilton says: “ Mental powers are 
not like bodily organs. It is the same simple sub¬ 
stance which exerts every energy and every faculty, 
however various, and which is affected in every 
mode, of every capacity, however opposite.” Addi¬ 
son before him had* said: “ Although we divide the* 
soul into several powers and faculties, there is no 
such division in the soul itself, since it is the whole 
soul that remembers, understands, wills, or imagines. 
Our manner of considering the memory, understand¬ 
ing, will, imagination, and the like faculties, is for 
the better enabling us to express ourselves in such 
abstracted subjects of speculation, not that there is 
any'such division in the soul itself.” In another 
part of the same paper Addison makes use of an 
expression which has been practically adopted as a 
definition by the best authors on mental philosophy. 
He says: “ What we call the faculties of the soul are 
only the different ways or modes in which the soul 
can exert herself.” Haven says: “A faculty of the 
mind is the mind’s power of acting. The mind has 
as many distinct faculties as it has distinct powers 


FACULTIES OF KNOWLEDGE. 


137 


of action, distinct functions, distinct modes and 
spheres of activity.” Hamilton again says: “ All 
mental powers are nothing more than names determ¬ 
ined by various orders of mental phenomena.” 

et every author of a system of mental philosophy 
has deemed it important to classify and distinguish 
the leading faculties of the mind. The system of 
Hajuilton is perhaps the most comprehensive, as it is 
the latest that has challenged the attention of the 
learned. It will serve as a convenient basis for the 
illustration of the present topic. 

Having adopted the Kantian division of the men¬ 
tal faculties into those of knowledge, feeling, and 
conation, (will and desire,) Hamilton thus tabulates 

THE SPECIAL FACULTIES OF KNOWLEDGE. 

^ 1. Presentative i External = Perception. 

( Internal = Self-conscionsness. 

n. Conservative = Memory. 

III. Eeproductive \ “ Suggestion. 

( With will == Kemmiscence. 

IV. Eepresentative = Imagination. 

V. Elahorative = Comparison, Faculty of Eolations. 

^ VI. Eegulative = Eeason — Common sense. 

RHETORICAL INVENTION. 

Ho mention is here made of invention or of an 
inventive faculty, and yet for ages invention flas 
been recognized as a mode of mental action, a sphere 
of mental activity. Let us now see in what manner 
invention is comprehended in the above scheme, or 
explainable in conformity with it. 

Invention, in the rhetorical sense, is that energy 
of the mind by which we discern ideas and their rela¬ 
tions. Yinet likens it to a divining rod, which ena¬ 
bles sonie minds to discover riches of thought and 
beauties of language to which other minds are insens¬ 
ible. John Quincy Adams says: ‘‘It selects from 





138 


COMPAEISON OF FACULTIES. 


the whole mass of ideas conceived or stored in the 
mind those which can most effectually promote the 
object of discourse, it gathers from the whole domain 
of real or apparent truth their inexhaustible subsidies 
to secure the triumph of persuasion.” Thus it is seen 
A constructive *0 be not Only an originating, but a con- 
faculty. structive faculty. It not only seeks out 
that which was before unknown; it also seizes upon 
old truths and blends them together in new combi¬ 
nations. It finds new pathways through old regions 
of thought. It never contents itself with what others 
have done, but insists upon fashioning what is new 
to itself, whatever uses other minds have made of 
the same material. 

In the accomplishment of such an office rhetorical 
invention involves more or less directly the exercise 
of all the six faculties enumerated by Hamilton. 

Perception, memory, suggestion, and imagination 
are the active agencies by which facts and truth are 
brought into mental control; while comparison and 
reason, or judgment, are the means of adapting them 
to the uses of the orator. Supposing that the acqui¬ 
sition of knowledge has been in a large degree at¬ 
tained by the timely and persevering employment of 
the presentative power, and that memory preserves 
for ready use all previously-acquired knowledge, the 
more usual sphere of invention is found in the re¬ 
production, representation, and elaboration of ideas 
in new and pertinent forms. This work is most suc¬ 
cessfully accomplished under control of the reasoning 
or regulative faculty. 

“Things new and old” were our Saviour’s pre¬ 
scription of material for “the scribe well-instructed 
unto the kingdom of heavenand things new and 
old must ever be sought for by teachers of the Chris- 


OFFICES OF IMAGINATION. 139 

tian religion as the materials of their discourse. 
Which, now, of the cognitive faculties con- 

- - , . » Imagination. 

duces most to the gathering ot new mate¬ 
rials for the preacher ? Clearly the imagination ; for 
while study enables us to perceive truth elaborated 
by others, memory to conserve it, and comparison 
and reflection to weigh it and determine its fitness, 
it is only imagination which penetrates the region of 
the new. 

Imagination, therefore, must be regarded as the 
pioneer and leader of invention, without which the 
latter can only traverse familiar spheres, and those 
with a halting step. This fact has been too much 
overlooked by writers on rhetoric and homiletics, 
who have generally been content to surrender the 
imagination to artists and poets, as though it was 
not needed for oratorical invention. The truth is 
that neither artist nor poet needs so ready a use nor 
so perfect a control of the imagination as Essential to the 
the public speaker. The former may 
polish and refine their conceptions in the privacy of 
the study; the latter will often attain, and must 
wisely manage the loftiest flights of the imagination 
in the midst of his addresses and in the very presence 
of the multitude. 

In this view the imagination should be called on 
to perform its appropriate office in the task of prep¬ 
aration as, indeed, one of the most powerful auxil¬ 
iaries of invention. Hence some special attention 
will now be given to the nature of the imagination, 
and the mode of subordinating its functions to the 
aid of the preacher of the Gospel. Here, however, as 
elsewhere within the precincts of mental science, we 
shall scarcely find two authors exactly agreeing in 
the use of terms. Some make the imagination and 


140 


FANCY. 


the fancy two distinct faculties; others, including 
Hamilton, make them equivalents. Wordsworth the 
poet, and Ruskin the artist, regard fancy and the im¬ 
agination as distinct exercises of the imaginative fao- 
ulty, the former being its playful and superficial 
action, the latter embracing both its higher and pro¬ 
founder movements. According to this view, which 
is here adopted, the orator leaves the lower walks of 
the ’imagination, those of the fancy, to poets and 
essayists; while, true to his calling, he never ceases to 
traverse its higher domain or plunge into its pro¬ 
founder depths. The poet is equally at home in both, 
as is illustrated by Wordsworth’s classification of his 
earlier productions into poems of the fancy and of 
the imagination. 

Ruskin beautifully says: 

Fancy plays like a squirrel in its circular prison and is happy; 
Fancy imagination is a pilgrim on earth, and her home 

is in heaven. Shut her from the fields of the celestial 
mountains, bar her from breathing their lofty sun-warmed air, 
and we may as well turn upon her the last bolt of the tower of 
famine, and give the keys to the keeping of the wildest surge 
that washes Capraja and Gorgona. 

Again he describes fancy as merely decorative and 
entertaining, whereas “ the life of imagination is in 
the discovering of truth.” 

There is a freshness and power in Mr. Ruskin’s 
treatment of the imaginative faculty* that can¬ 
not fail to prove highly entertaining and instructive 
to all who desire to apprehend and master the orator¬ 
ical process of invention. 

His object in writing was to aid painters in the 
task of artistic composition. Let the student judge 
* Modern Painters, vol. ii. 


THKEE KINDS OF IMAGINATION. 141 

how far his hints may he useful to those engaged in 
the composition of sermons. The following is a 
brief but systematic abstract of the views he presents 
in the essay referred to. 

Mr. Ruskin treats the imagination as acting in 
three distinct forms, which he respectively desig¬ 
nates as ‘^imagination penetrative, imagination asso¬ 
ciative, and imagination contemplative.” The first 
penetrates, analyzes, and reaches truth, discoverable 
by no other faculty. The second combines truths 
already discovered, and by combination creates new 
forms. The third regards and examines both simple 
images and its own combinations with a view to 
completeness and adaptation. 

The first, or imagination penetrative, in seizing its 
materials plunges “ into the very heart of things.” 

IT SEIZES BY THE INNERMOST. 

Nothing else will content its spirituality; whatever semblances 
and various outward shows and phases its subject may possess 
go for nothing; it gets within all fence, cuts down to the root, 
and drinks the very vital sap of that it deals with. Once there 
it is at liberty to throw up what new shoots it will, so always 
that the true juice and sap be in them, and to prune and twist 
them at its pleasure, and bring them to fairer fruit than grew 
on the old tree; but all this pruning and twisting is work that 
it likes not, and often does ill; its function and gift are the 
getting at the root; its nature and dignity depend on its holding 
things always by the heart. Take its hand from off the beating 
of that and it will prophesy no longer. It looks not in the eyes, 
it judges not by the voice, it describes not by outward features; 
all that it affirms, judges, or describes it affirms from within. 


IT ACTS INTUITIVELY. 

It may seem to the reader that I am incorrect in calling this 
penetrating, possession-taking faculty imagination. Be it so; 
the name is of little consequence; the faculty itself, called by 
what name we w'ill. I insist upon as the highest intellectual 


142 


OKIGINALITY. 


power of man. There is no reasoning in it; it works not by 
algebra, nor by integral calculus; it is a piercing, Pholas-like 
mind’s tongue that works and tastes into the very rock-heart; 
no matter what le the subject submitted to it, substance or spirit, 
all is alike divided asunder, joint and marrow; whatever utmost 
truth, life, principle it has is laid bare, and that which has no truth, 
life, nor principle is dissipated into its original smoke at a touch. 
The whispers at men’s ears it lifts into visible angels. Vials 
that have lain sealed in the deep sea a thousand years it unseals 
and brings out of them genii. Every great conception of poet 
or painter (or orator) is held and treated by this faculty. 

SIGNS OP IT IN LANGUAGE. 

There is in every word set down by the imaginative mind an 
awful undercurrent of meaning and evidence and shadow upon it 
of the deep places out of which it has come. 

^ PROOFS OF ITS ABSENCE. 

The imaginative writer, on the other hand, as he has never 
pierced to the heart, so he can never touch it. If he has to 
paint a passion he remembers the external signs of it; he col¬ 
lects expressions of it from other writers; he searches for similes; 
lie composes, exaggerates, heaps term on term, figure on figure, 
till we groan beneath the cold disjointed heap; but it is all 
faggot and no fire; the breath of life is not in it. His passion 
has the form of Leviathan, but it never makes the deep boil; 
he fastens us all at anchor in the scaly rind of it; our sym¬ 
pathies remain as idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean. 

RELATIONS TO ORIGINALITY. 

And that virtue of originality that men so strain after is not 
newness, as they vainfy think, (there is nothing new;) it is only 
genuineness. It all depends upon this glorious faculty of getting 
to the spring of things and working out from that. It is the 
coolness and clearness and deliciousness of the water, fresh from 
the fountain-head, opposed to the thick, hot, unrefreshing drain¬ 
age from other men’s meadows. 

ILLUSTRATIVE DISTINCTION. 

I believe it will be found that the entirely unimaginative mind 
sees nothing of the object it has to dwell upon or describe, and 


COMBINATIONS. 


143 


is therefore utterly unable, as it is blind itself, to set anything 
before the eyes of the reader.* 

The fancy sees the outside, and is able to give a portrait of 
the outside, clear, brilliant, and full of detail. 

The imagination sees the heart and inner nature and makes 
them felt, but is often obscure, mysterious, and interrupted in 
its giving of outer detail. 

Second. 'While the penetrative functions of the 
imagination are thus shown to be intuitive, imagination 
its associative functions are in a certain associative, 
sense mechanical. But they forjn the grandest me¬ 
chanical power that the human intelligence possesses.’’ 

A poweffully imaginative mind seizes and combines at the 
same instant all the important ideas of its poem or picture, (or 
sermon,) and while it works with any one of them, it is at the 
same instant working with and modifying all in their relations 
to it, never losing sight of their bearings on each other. 

The matter in which associative imagination can be shown is 
that which admits of great license and variety of arrangements, 
and in which a certain amount of relation alone is required. 

The associative imagination exhibits its power in 
grouping resemblances, and in calling forth from the 
regions of the known whatever may illustrate the 
unknown. 

Third. It is the office of the contemplative im¬ 
agination to regard deliberately the con- 

o . , . 1 n 1 /. 11 Contemplative. 

ceptions which have been formed by 
intuition or combination, to select such of them, or 
such features of them, as it may choose for particular 
purposes, and to forge the selected qualities together 
in such groups and forms as it may desire. In this 
mode of action it shapes and creates by innumerable 
processes. It consolidates numbers into unity, and 
dissolves and separates unity into numbers; it shapes 

* Compare Aristotle’s Ehetoric, iii, 11. 


144 


HAMILTON. 


means to ends, and images of thought to the accom¬ 
plishment of objects designed. It discovers and 
repairs defects, and finally contemplates and treats 
as realities its own creations. 

. Although most writers have regarded the imagina¬ 
tion as limited in its functions to the sphere of the 
ornamental, yet Ruskin is not alone in treating it as 
the great mental agency for the discovery of truth. 
Sir William Hamilton says : 

If we were obliged to find a common word for every element¬ 
ary process of our (mental) analysis, Imagination would be the 
term which, with the least violence to its meaning, could be 
accommodated to express the representative faculty. By the 
imagination thus limited you are not to suppose that the faculty 
of representing mere objects of sense alone is meant. On the 
contrary, a vigorous power of representation is as indispensable a 
condition of success in the abstract sciences as in the poetical and 
plastic arts. It may accordingly be doubted whether Aristotle 
or Homer were possessed of the more powerful imagination. 

He proceeds to quote as part of his text the 
following from Ancillon, a French philosophical 
writer: 

We may indeed affirm that there are as many different kinds 
Different kinds of imagination as there are different kinds of intel- 
of imagination, lectual activity. There is the imagination of ab¬ 
straction, which represents to us certain phases of an object to 
the exclusion of others, and at the same time the sign by which 
the phases are united; the imagination of wit, which represents 
differences and contrasts, and the semblance by which these are 
again combined ; the imagination of judgment, which represents 
the various qualities of an object, and binds them together 
under the relations of substance, of attribute, of mode; the im¬ 
agination of reason, which represents a principle in connection 
with its consequences, the effect in dependence on its cause; the 
imagination of feeling, which represents the accessory images, 
kindred to some particular, and Tvhich therefore confer on it 
greater compass, dejith, and intensity; the imagination of voli- 


ANCILLON’S THEORY. 


145 


tion, whicli represents all the circumstances which concur to 
persuade or dissuade from a certain act of will; the imagination 
of the passions, which, according to the nature of the affection, 
represents all that is homogeneous or analogous; finally, the 
imagination of the poet, which represents whatever is new, or 
beautiful, or sublime; whatever, in a word, it is determined to 
represent by any interest of art. 

A peculiar kind of imagination, determined by a peculiar 
order of association, is usually found in every period of life, in 
every sex, in every country, in every religion. A knowledge of 
men principally consists in the knowledge of the principles by 
which their thoughts are linked and represented. The study of 
this is of importance to the instructor, in order to direct the 
character and intellect of his pupils; to the statesman, that he 
may exert his infiuence on the public opinion and manners of 
a people; to the poet, that he may give truth and reality to his 
dramatic representations; and to the orator, in order to convince 
and persuade. 

In his further treatment of the subject Hamilton 
says: 

Considering the representative faculty in subordination to its 
two determinants, the faculty of reproduction and the faculty of 
comparison or elaboration, we may distinguish three principal 
orders in which imagination represents ideas: 1. The natural 
order. 2. The logical order. 3. The poetical 

° , . , . , . Three orders. 

order. The natural order is that in which we re¬ 
ceive the impression of external objects, or the order according 
to which our thoughts spontaneously group themselves. The 
logical order‘consists in presenting what is universal prior to 
what is contained under it as particular, or in presenting partic¬ 
ulars first and then ascending to the universal, which they con¬ 
stitute. The former is the order of deduction, the latter that of 
induction. The poetical order consists in seizing individual cir¬ 
cumstances, and in grouping them in such a manner that the 
imagination shall represent them so as they might he offered by 
the sense. The natural order is involuntary; the logical is the 
child of art, it is the result of our will, conformed to the laws 
of intelligence; the poetical order is exclusively calculated on 
effect. 


10 


146 


KHETOKICAL VIEW. 


Making due allowance for the difference of phrase¬ 
ology between the artist and the philosopher, it will 
be seen that their ideas of the imaginative power are 
substantially alike. The imagination penetrative 
seizes facts and thoughts in their natural order, the 
imagination associative arranges them in logical 
order, while the imagination contemplative or elab- 
orative adapts them to poetical or oratorical use. 

These various processes are all included in the rhe¬ 
torical idea of invention, and just descriptions of them 
are well calculated to indicate to students of oratory 
the line of development and cultivation they ought 
to pursue. 

Like other talents, the inventive power is possessed 
in different degrees by different persons, and is sus¬ 
ceptible both of direction and of improvement. A 
high degree of inventiveness in any department of art 
or science is denominated genius; but if, according to 
Buffon, “ genius is labor,” those who naturally possess 
it in but a moderate degree need not despair of secur¬ 
ing its ample development by means of suitable 
effort. 

Khetorical invention is limited to the real, at least 
to the possible; but in both there is literally endless 
Limited to the scope for its employment. Upon its 
possible. active and judicious exercise,depends, in 
a greater degree than is usually supposed, the inter¬ 
est and usefulness of preaching. The power of 
the human mind in this respect was doubtless con¬ 
templated in the original appointment of preaching 
as the great agency for the diffusion, of the Gospeh 
It was never designed that triteness or iteration should 
render the proclamation of divine truth prosy and 
powerless. On the other hand, it was designed, and 
it is ever reasonably demanded, that with the varying 


EHETORICAL INVENTION. 


• 147 


temperaments and capacities of men, the changing 
circumstances of society, and the inexhaustible re¬ 
sources of knowledge and truth, preaching should be 
so varied as ever to be interesting to those who hear 
it and hear it constantly. 

Invention is essential to this result, and without it 
no degree of learning and no amount of talent can 
make a preacher interesting. Invention, indeed, 
must kindle the glow of interest in one’s own mind, 
or he will be utterly incapable of interesting others. 
Hence any style of pulpit preparation deserving to be 
recommended should contemplate not only the pres¬ 
ent, but the continued employment of the inventive 
powers. It often happens that successive examina¬ 
tions of the same subject, with intervening intervals 
for the growth of the mind and its increase in knowl¬ 
edge, will widen the breadth of view which one may 
take of any given subject, and thus more than com¬ 
pensate for the disadvantage of familiarity with the 
subject and its treatment. 

It is on this plan, and on this plan only, that a 
preacher can hope to be increasingly interesting and 
useful as he advances in life. In his earlier sermons 
the interest of novelty may stimulate his thoughts 
and give freshness to his utterances. But whoever 
contents himself with first thoughts and original prep¬ 
arations foregoes the finest opportunity of mental 
progress, and dooms himself to be the organ of stale 
repetitions, which, having lost their power over his 
own mind, can only be presented to others with 
tameness, or at best with aflected vivacity. 

Let it then be adopted as a fundamental principle 
of pulpit preparation, that within the lim- constant exer- 
its prescribed by the word of God the 
inventive powers of the mind must be fully devel- 


148 


PRACTICAL PROCESSES. 


oped, and constantly exercised in the investigation 
and communication of truth. 

There are several important tasks to which in the 
preparation of religious discourse the invention must 
he earnestly addressed. 

GENERALIZATION. 

In homiletics, generalization may be defined as the 
act of deducing special themes from general subjects 
or texts. It has two forms of application analogous 
to induction and deduction in logic. In the first 
there is the summing up of particulars in such a form 
of statement as will embrace them all. In the second 
there is the withdrawing or extraction of some par¬ 
ticular idea from a general subject in a form adapted 
to become the germ of discourse. 

Every subject admits of treatment from different 
aspects, and every text of Scripture contains two or 
more subjects from which in preaching a specific 
theme may be chosen. Even in the briefest logical 
propositions there is room for selection between the 
subject and the predicate, and sometimes even the 
copula, as to the prominence to be given to one or the 
other. 

For an illustration take the text 1 John iv, 16: 

God is love.” 

This most simple and logical proposition may be 
generalized in different forms, so that very different 
discourses as to plan and matter would be preached 
from the particular theme which might be chosen. 

If the mind of the preacher were most deeply im¬ 
pressed with the proposition as a whole he would 
generalize it in its broadest form, and probably choose 
as his specific theme. The love of God. 

If the subject of the proposition were fixed upon 


PRACTICAL PROCESSES. 


149 


as indicating the leading thought to be developed, 
God is love, the specific theme might be stated in 
this form: By eminence above all other 'beings God is 
love. 

If the copula were regarded as peculiarly signifi¬ 
cant, God IS love, this theme might be adopted: 
God^s existence inseparable f rom love. 

Again, if the predicate were to be chosen as the 
special topic of thought, God is love, the text might 
be generalized as follows: Love the glory^of the 
divine character. 

Texts embodying compound propositions necessa¬ 
rily admit of still more varied generalizations, and it 
is the task of invention to present them all before the 
mind as a means of choosing the best. This is the 
primary work of invention, from which it may pro¬ 
ceed in the accumulation of material by other steps. 

ANALYSIS. 

When a subject is specifically before the mind, 
inventive reflection should penetrate its essence and 
discover its component parts. These parts should be 
laid out one by one, and examined both in their rela¬ 
tions and in their details. This process is denom¬ 
inated analysis, and is peculiarly fruitful of sugges¬ 
tions to an inventive mind. 

HYPOTHESIS. 

Invention is often greatly stimulated by conjecture. 
When by analysis we have discovered what is within 
a subject, hypothesis will often lead us forth on the 
track of its relations to the universe without. Hy¬ 
pothesis is cne of the most common elements of 
mathematical demonstration. To it in science the 
most brilliant discoveries are to be credited, and to it 


150 


PEACTICAL PEOCESSES. 


literature owes its brightest gems. Hypothetical 
invention in oratory corresponds to whab Ruskin 
says of the imagination in literature: “It takes a 
thousand forms, according to the matter it has to 
treat, and becomes, like the princess of the Arabian 
tale, sword, eagle, or fire, according to the war it 
wages, sometimes piercing, sometimes soaring, some¬ 
times illumining.” 

Without restraint, this employment of the mind 
might lead to wild and profitless vagaries. It is 
therefore only recommended within just limits as a 
means of searching out sterling material not secured 
by tamer processes. 


COMPARISON. 

When the penetrative or tentative imagination has 
brought new thoughts, or combinations of thoughts, 
within the field of mental vision, it is the task of 
association and contemplation to test their value 
and, if possible, increase their utility. Comparison 
may be said to embrace this whole class of mental 
operations, and comparison demands knowledge as 
the basis of its action. Things conjectured must be 
compared with things known; and the more extens¬ 
ive one’s knowledge is, the more profitably he may 
conduct the process of invention, whether for the 
development, the illustration, or the ornamentation 
of his subject. ^ 

The right use of knowledge contributes to origin¬ 
ality. In this sphere the laws of association have 
their legitimate action ; but without extensive knowl¬ 
edge the range of the associative imagination must 
be narrow. Give it material on which to act, and 
there is no limit to the new combinations it may 
form. Thus science, history, and literature may all 


PROCESSES OF INVENTION. 151 

be rendered subservient to the proclamations of pure 
Gospel truth. 


EXERCISE. 

The inventive powers of the mind gain strength 
from exertion. Habits of thinking and of expressing 
thought enlarge the mental grasp and increase one’s 
readiness both of perceiving facts and relations, and 
of utilizing them for didactic purposes.. 

There is a vast difference between the conditions 
of a mind that acquires knowledge for the mere 
pleasure of its possession, and of one that learns and 
thinks with the design of turning its acquisitions to 
a high practical account. The one is like a pent-up 
lake, which receives but never gives, unless by the 
slow process of evaporation. The other is like the 
sparkling waters of a running stream, carrying fer¬ 
tility and beauty wherever it flows. 

The object and practice of communicating knowl¬ 
edge give new motives and stimulus to its acquisi¬ 
tion, and no one can have higher motives for both 
than the minister of the Gospel. Hence, while he 
should study diligently, to know the truth of God, 
he should be equally diligent in learning to express 
it with readiness and power. 

Habitual and laborious composition, therefore, is 
an essential preparation for the task of 

. Composition. 

preaching. In this exercise invention is 
stimulated by its own action, and seldom fails to 
gather even a redundancy of materials. In every 
such case its power of discrimination is called into 
play in the selection of only those materials which 
are best and in the highest degree effective. Rus- 
kin’s description of artistic composition well illus¬ 
trates the process of composing a sermon : 


152 


RUSKIN ON COMPOSITION. 


The mind summons up before it those images which it sup¬ 
poses to be of the kind wanted. Of these it takes the one which 
it supposes to be the fittest and tries it. If it will not answer 
it tries another, until it has obtained such an association as 
pleases it. 

This process will be more rapid and effective in proportion to 
the artist’s (preacher’s) powers of conception and association, 
these in their turn depending on his knowledge and experience. 
The distinctness of his powers of conception will give value, 
point, and truth to every fragment that he draws from memory. 
His powers of association and his knowledge of nature (and 
revelation) will pour out before him, in greater or less number, 
the images from which to choose. His experience guides him 
to quick discernment in the combination, when made, of the 
parts that are offensive and require change. 

By association images apposite or resemblant, or of whatever 
kind wanted, are called up quickly and in multitudes. Great 
differences of power are manifested among artists (preachers) in 
this respect, some having hosts of distinct images always at 
their command, and rapidly discerning resemblance or contrast; 
others having few images and obscure at their disposal, nor 
readily governing those they have, 

PRACTICAL RULES. 

It may be well to subjoin a few practical sugges¬ 
tions in reference to bomiletical invention in the 
form of rules: 

1. Address your mind to tbe invention of thoughts, 
not words. Words may be employed, but only as 
auxiliaries. 

2. Note down or otherwise make sure of whatever 
relevant thoughts your mind can call to its aid, irre¬ 
spective of order or mainly so. 

3. At first be not too scrupulous on the subject 
of relevancy. Entertain whatever seemingly good 
thoughts come at your call. Try them, push them out 
to conclusions. Perhaps if not available themselves 
they will lead to others that are. 


PKACTICAL RULES. 


163 


4. Pursue invention in every variety of circum¬ 
stance in the study and out of it. Make it the sub¬ 
ject of special and protracted occupation, and also 
of occasional attention, when walking or riding, 
when taking exercise or rest. One’s very dreams at 
night may sometimes be made serviceable for this 
object. 

6. Make an early selection of subjects in order 
to secure the advantages of the repeated and inci¬ 
dental action of the inventive powers. 

6. Use former studies and preparations as helps to 
invention rather than as substitutes for it. 

Invention as thus practiced will always strengthen 
but never exhaust itself. It will become a most de¬ 
lightful exercise, causing the mind to glow with rap¬ 
ture at its new creations and combinations. While 
one thus muses (inventively meditates) the fire of in¬ 
spiration burns within him, and he becomes prepared 
to speak with his tongue.* 

§ 4. Disposition. 

When by active and elaborative invention, follow¬ 
ing in the track of interpretation, ample trains of 
thought are secured for the materials of a discourse, 
the importance of disposition becomes obvious. 

Disposition signifies arrangement in its most com¬ 
prehensive sense. Its offices to put thoughts ita nature 
in their right places. It is the nece^ssary 
complement of invention. Invention accumulates, 
disposition distributes. Invention gathers together 
the wood, the stone, the iron, and every species of 
material essential to a building. Disposition from 
shapeless heaps constructs a beautiful edifice. 

* Psalm xxxix, 3. 


154 


IMPORTANCE OF DISPOSITION. 


The business of invention is to roam in the forest, 
to delve in the quarry, to sink the mine and purge its 
Beiations to to visit the manufactorj and select 

invention. ^;igefui or Ornamental products. Dis¬ 

position takes the material selected and places each 
stone, each piece of wood, and each ornament or fast¬ 
ening where it is required. It does not take airy 
mouldings to construct the frame-work of a building, 
nor ornament doors and windows with beams and 
heavy timbers. It distinguishes between the founda¬ 
tion-stones and the coping. Distributing every varie¬ 
ty of material to its appropriate position and use, it 
drives every nail in a sure place, and fits hinges and 
ornaments where they belong. 

If in the process of construction anything small or 
great is found to be wanting invention is dispatched 
in search of it, and often when invention is most 
busily at work disposition takes materials directly 
from her hand and places them where they are to be 
used. 

Thus in practice invention and disposition are often 
simultaneous. They should never be widely separa¬ 
ted. Still it is best for students to consider them 
separately or in their distinct functions. 

As invention is to a large extent the work of the 
imagination, so disposition is correspondingly the 
work of the judgment. Although the imagination 
sometimes acts in logical o*der, yet oftener it requires 
the control of the regulative faculties, reason, and 
common sense. This control results in disposition. 

Some writers have confounded disposition with 
division, and thus have failed to discern its true char¬ 
acter. Disposition is the genus. Division is a subor¬ 
dinate species or branch of disposition. Disposition 
covers the arrangement of the entire discourse from 


OEATOKICAL INSPIKATION. 165 

the introduction to the conclusion. Division is tech¬ 
nically applied to the argument of a discourse. 

THE IMPORTANCE OF DISPOSITION. 

Yinet has strongly set forth the importance of dis¬ 
position. He says; “It is disposition, it is order, 
which constitutes discourse. There is no discourse 
without it. The difference between a common orator 
and an eloquent man is often nothing but a difference 
in respect to disposition.” “ Good thoughts are abund¬ 
ant ; the art of organizing them is not so common.” 

Disposition is essential to both instruction and per¬ 
suasion, those important objects of pulpit discourse. 
“We are instructed only so far as we comprehend 
and retain, but we comprehend and retain only in 
the proportion in which the matters presented to our 
understanding are consecutive and connected. A 
discourse badly ordered is obscure, and that which is 
obscure is weak and powerless over the will.” 

The work of disposition is also of very great im¬ 
portance, since it completes and perfects perfects mven- 
that of invention. Its office in this re- 
spect is threefold: 1. It determines and reduces to 
strict unity the meaning of the proposition. 2. It 
aids us in discovering what the subject contains. 
3. It gives to each element of the subject its real and 
proportionate importance. 

Again, the orator must experience in himself the 
effect he would produce. This is what is called in¬ 
spiration. How without a plan, and a plan strongly 
conceived, one cannot write or speak with a true in¬ 
spiration. He proceeds at hazard, gropes in the dark, 
advances and recedes, continually breaking the thread 
he is trying to unravel. This uncertain, hesitating, 
out-of-breath procedure is most contrary to inspiration 


156 OFFICES OF DISPOSITION. 

and that contmnoiis movement which should he as 
one. single expiration firom a powerful chest.* 

Other authors have also expressed thenaselves 
stronglv on this point. Bautain says: “He who 
knows not how to form a well-conceived, deeply con¬ 
sidered, and seriously elaborated plan will never 
speak in a living or an effective manner. He may 
become a rhetorician, he will never be an orator.’' 

Herder declares: I readily forgive all faults except 
those which relate to disposition.” 

Quintilian’s illustration of the importance of dis¬ 
position is well known, but will bear repetition: 

If Tou cast <»* fashi on aU the limbs of a statue, it will not be 
a statue nnle?^ these limbs are prc^rir put te^ther; and if 
TOO change ot tran^xjse anr part of the human bodj or of other 
animals, though all other parts remain in their due propoitkm, 
it win notwithstanding be a monster. Mislocated limbs lose the 
use <rf their wcmted exertions, and actions in ccmfuskm are an 
impediment to any just maneuTat 

They are fer, I think, from being mistaken who hare said that 
the unixerse is maintained by the order and srmmetry of its 
parts, and that aQ would perish if this order was disturbed. In 
like manner a speech wanting this quality must run into extreme 
confnsicHi. wandering about without a steersman, incoherent 
with hsd:^ full of repedfrons and omissicMis, losing its way, as 
by ni^t, in unknown paths, and without propodng to itself any 
proper beginning end, following rather the guidance of 
than reason. 


GKXEBAT. OFFICES OF DISPOSITION. 

There are two principal kinds of disposition, which 
may be denominated, logical and oratoricaL 

Logical disposition has simple reference to order 
and symmetry. Oratorical disposition aims to pro¬ 
duce an effec-t upon the mind and the will of the 
hearer. The former is governed by strict rules either 

* Condaued from Vinet. 


LOGICAL AND ORATOBICAL. 


157 


of analysis or synthesis. The latter determines 
whether analysis or synthesis shall he employed or a 
combination of both. 

Logical disposition is the basis of oratorical. Ora¬ 
torical disposition is not at liberty to violate logical 
principles, bnt it may choose between different forms 
of logical action. It may determine whether the 
process shaU be inductive or deductive, whether ana¬ 
lytic or synthetic, and if analytic, the point at which 
the analysis shall commence; whether at the top 
or at the bottom of the scale, whether from within 
or from without the subject. Still more, oratorical 
disposition determines whether to exhibit the logical 
fi*ame-work of the discourse in whole or in part, or 
to conceal it beneath the drapery of language or the 
living organism of ideas. 

Exact and repeated practice in logical disposition 
is an excellent preparation for oratorical success, but 
in speaking a rigid conformity to logical forms and 
minutiae would chill the very soul of eloquence. In 
short, loodc is essential to oratory, but 

Belations of logic. 

oratory is superior to logic. J ust so tar 
as logic convinces the understanding it prepares the 
way of access to the souL Oratory seeks to enter 
the very chambers of the soul, and to awaken within 
them echoes that will stir the will to action. Indeed, 
the logic of the orator should be that of the soul 
itself, harmonizing not only with the action of the 
intellect, but of the sensibilities and the wiU. 

It is this which produces that continual movement 
of the soul which Cicero denominates eloquence 
itself* This movement begins with the hearer in a 
state of indifference. It first awakens his attention, 

* Quid aliad est eloquentia nisi motns animse continuiis ?—Ciczbo cs 

OSATOBS. 


168 


OKATOEICAL PKOGRESS. 


then conquers his prejudices, and proceeds to enlist 
his sympathies, arouse his feelings, secure the decis¬ 
ion of his will, and to demand action. To commence 
and maintain this movement till the appropriate 
result is attained is the object of oratory, and of dis¬ 
position, as one of its most important auxiliaries. To 
this end continuity and progress are both essential. 

Oratorical progress has often been likened to a flow¬ 
ing stream, whose volume is continually augmenting 
Oratorical prog- ^^s tributaries. Yinet compares it 

to the increasing momentum of falling 
bodies in respect to intensity, not acceleration of 
movement. His rules for securing oratorical prog¬ 
ress are practically these: 

1. Advance from that which affects the under¬ 
standing only to that which affects the will. 

2. Advance from abstract to concrete, from dpriori 
to d posteriori. 

3. Advance from the weaker argument to the 
stronger, considering that to be the stronger which 
addresses itself most powerfully to the understanding 
and will of the hearer. 

Such- rules recognize the legitimate action of the 
mind in the communication and reception of truth as 
ever onward, and forbid its being turned back upon 
itself or cut short in its progress toward a just result. 

It is the ofiice of disposition in oratory to arrange 
ideas in accordance with the demands of our mental 
and moral nature; and as truth is adapted to move 
the mind, and the mind is constituted to be moved 
by truth, so an arrangement for the most appropriate 
and effective application of truth must always be con¬ 
sidered of vital importance to the orator. 

That this is not always an easy task may be 
inferred from the language of Theremin: 


THE TASK OF ARRANGEMENT. 


159 


In the plan of the oration as it is first presented to the mind, 
the thoughts are never (seldom) found already arranged in this 
constant progressive flow, but must be wrought into it. As 
they first present themselves they are hard, brittle, and sepa¬ 
rate particles; the mind must seize them, and by grinding them 
incessantly upon each other crush them, until friction kindles 
the mass and it runs like molten ore. The higher ideas, thrown, 
as it were, into this solution, take up the thoughts which belong 
to them, and which, now that they are fluid, obey the mystic 
power that attracts like to like, so that they form themselves 
into a firm chain. 

To attain the power of readily fusing ideas and 
combining them for the highest oratorical effect is an 
object worthy of the earnest and diligent endeavors 
of the intending or actual public speaker. For this 
he should determine to put forth zealous and con¬ 
tinued efforts. 


160 


ANCIENT SYSTEMS OF DISPOSITION. 


CHAPTER VII. 

DISPOSITION APPLIED TO THE PRINCIPAL PART^ 
OF A DISCOURSE. 

ANCIENT SYSTEMS OF DISPOSITION. 

From ancient times rhetoricians have recognized 
various distinct parts of a discourse, designated ac¬ 
cording to the order of their use and the design of the 
speaker. But neither among ancient nor modern 
writers has there been exact agreement as to the 
number of distinct parts of which a discourse should 
be composed. Aristotle enumerated four: introduc¬ 
tion, proposition, proof, and conclusion; Quintilian 
prescribed five: introduction, narration, proof, refu¬ 
tation, and conclusion. Cicero extended the enumer¬ 
ation to six, under the names of introduction, narra¬ 
tion, proposition, proof, refutation, and conclusion. 
To this ample list the more minute writers and teach¬ 
ers of the ancient schools added partition, transition, 
and digression. 

The greater number of modern writers have fol¬ 
lowed Cicero, but at present the tendency is to sim¬ 
plify disposition by throwing out parts which are 
non-essential or of little value. 

EXPLANATION OF TERMS. 

Brief explanations of the terms employed in the 
systems alluded to will lead the way to a just esti¬ 
mate of their propriety and value. 

The introduction was designed to begin or intro¬ 
duce the discourse. 


EXPLANATION OF TERMS. 


161 


The narration^ which was chiefly employed in 
judicial orations, stated the circumstances of the 
case. 

The proposition stated what the speaker designed 
to prove. 

The partition exhibited the form and order of his 
arguments. 

Transition was the passage from one part of the 
discourse to another, or, practically, the ligament 
which bound each part to another. 

Proof embraced the testimony and reasoning. 

Refutation answered objections. 

Digression embraced side remarks, or issues not 
comprehended in any regular part. 

The conclusion ended the discourse. 

COMPREHENSIVE CHARACTER OF THE ARGUMENT. 

A comparison of the different systems of disposi¬ 
tion enumerated will show that of Aris- variations ad- 
totle to have been the germ from which ““siwe. 
the later systems were expanded. But even those 
ancient rhetoricians who sought to reduce everything 
to rule, and to resolve oratory into a species of clock¬ 
work, did not absolutely require every oration to con¬ 
tain all the parts they enumerated. Even they allowed 
certain variations in accordance with circumstances. 
Hence it is certainly proper for us to inquire to what 
extent in homiletics we may dispense with any of 
the technical forms of ancient oratory. It is obvious 
that partition, transition, and digression need not be 
retained; while the term argument may fitly sum up 
what intervenes between the introduction and the 
conclusion. 

An argument demands a proposition in some form: 
a statement if it relates to facts, proof if it is doubted, 
11 


162 


AKGUMENT ALONE ESSENTIAL. 


confirmation if the proposition is but partially or 
faintly believed, and refutation if objections lie 
against it. Hence in homiletics it conduces greatly 
to unity to consider the whole discussion of the 
subject of a discourse under the single idea of an 
argument, which as just explained is sufficiently 
comprehensive. 

Circumstances sometimes occur which limit a dis¬ 
course exclusively to the argument. Still, as every 
argument must have both a beginning and an end, 
so the discourse which comprises but that single part 
has for its introduction the beginning of the argu¬ 
ment, and the end of the argument for its conclusion. 

Strictly, then, it may be asserted that the argu¬ 
ment, with or without a text, is the only essential 
part of a discourse. Nevertheless, in common cases 
the law of disposition or method distributes the mat¬ 
ter of a discourse or a sermon into at least three 
parts, the introduction, the argument, and the con¬ 
clusion. These several parts will now be treated in 
their natural order. 

§ 1. The Introduction. 

Introductions may be of two kinds, formal and in¬ 
formal. The term formal is here used in a good 
sense, and applies simply to introductions which 
appear in due form distinct from the body of the 
discourse. An informal introduction is an* actual 
commencement with the subject itself. 

OCCASIONS FOR INFORMAL. 

An informal introduction is in place when the 
subject is a familiar one, and when the hearers need 
no preparation to enable them to understand or ap¬ 
preciate it. 


OCCASIONS FOR INFORMAL. 


163 


Even on subjects of this character a judicious 
speaker will commence with elementary views, and 
proceed by natural gradations to those more abstruse. 
Hence, although omitting an introduction proper, he 
uses introductory matter, or matter in an introduc¬ 
tory form. In taking soundings of his subject he 
does not plunge into measureless depths 

11 11 1 11 Analogies. 

at once, but through the shallows nearest 
shore he advances, lengthening his line by de¬ 
grees until he measures the deepest waters. As to 
progress he imitates the locomotive, which does not 
start off at full speed, but rather by a slow begin¬ 
ning and measured motion at the introduction of its 
course gradually attains its full velocity. 

Another class of circumstances requires, or at least 
frequently justifies, the omission of any formal intro¬ 
duction, and an unceremonious, dash into the merits 
of the question. To this class belong occasions of 
great excitement, in which both the attention and 
the feelings of the audience are thoroughly roused. 
Formal introductions at such times are not only use¬ 
less, but injurious, exciting the disgust of the hearers 
and throwing away the opportunity of the speaker. 

But even in these cases the speaker should so 
arrange his matter that he may advance to higher 
and higher results; otherwise, striking on too high 
a key he will be doomed to descend, and perhaps 
fall fiat before reaching his conclusion. Great skill 
is necessary for successful management in such cases. 

Another occasion for omitting a formal introduc¬ 
tion is haste, when much is to be said in a little time. 
This is true of many sermons, but of more exhorta¬ 
tions and addresses. Formal introductions in plat¬ 
form addresses are usually tedious and inopportune. 
If employed they should be extremely brief. 


164 DESIGN OF AN INTRODUCTION. 

With reference, however, to the sermon generally, 
as well as to an oration, in ordinary circumstances a 
formal introduction, or an exordium in proper form, 
may be considered appropriate, often essential. 

DESIGN OF AN INTRODUCTION. 

The design of an introduction is to prepare the 
mind of the hearer to understand and appreciate the 
subject of a discourse. The terms used in various 
languages to designate it embody the same idea. 
Thus prologue^ foreword in the Greek, and 

exordium or heginning in the Latin, both point to 
the common necessity which the human mind has, 
in ordinary circumstances, to be prepared for new 
thoughts and permanent impressions. This necessity 
has its basis in our mental constitution. It is also 
supported by numerous analogies of nature. Thus 
the dawn introduces the day, the mellow light the 
blaze of the sun, the cloud the storm, the spring the 
summer, and autumn the winter. 

Since, therefore, men have a natural shrinking 
from abruptness, either in manner or in speech, and 
demand a certain preparation for the influence the 
orator hopes to exert upon them, the introduction 
often becomes a very important part of a discourse. 
It is consequently desirable for the public speaker 
so to dispose his thoughts as to use in his introduc¬ 
tion only such matter as is strictly adapted to its 
design. To say flrst what should be said last or in¬ 
termediately is a serious error. 

KINDS AND QUALITIES OF INTRODUCTIONS. 

Hhetoricians have been very minute in their treat¬ 
ment of this topic. Whately enumerates flve kinds 
of introductions; namely, the inquisitive, the para- 


KINDS AND QUALITIES OF INTRODUCTIONS. 165 

doxical, the corrective, the preparatory, and the 
narrative. He moreover states that two or 
more of these kinds may be advantageously com¬ 
bined. 

Other writers have designated introductions as ex¬ 
planatory, conciliatory, argumentative, apologetic, 
etc. The truth is that there is no limit to the va¬ 
riety that good speakers may employ in the introduc¬ 
tions to their discourses. While, therefore, attempts 
to designate by special terms every style of introduc¬ 
tion may savor more of the curious than the useful, 
it is nevertheless highly important that every speaker 
should seek to acquire the talent of preparing intro¬ 
ductions characterized by variety and all other good 
qualities. 

Authors have been very profuse in their rules re¬ 
specting introductions. Blair and others, following 
Cicero, have urged that introductions should be, 

1. Easy and natural; 

2. Correct, without the appearance of artificiality; 

3. Modest, but dignified; 

4. Calm in manner; and, 

5. Hot anticipating any material part of the sub¬ 
ject. 

Claude, with special reference to a sermon, pre¬ 
scribes, 1. That the introduction should grow out of 
the subject and be in harmony with it; and, 2. That 
it should conduct the hearers gradually to the topic 
of discussion. He further enjoins as essential quali¬ 
ties of an introduction that it be, 1. Brief; 2. Clear; 
3. Cool and grave; 4. Engaging and agreeable; 
5. Haturally connected with the text; and, 6. Sim¬ 
ple or literal, not figurative. The same author also 
censures the use of personal allusions and far-fetched 
historical statements in an introduction. 


166 


THE GEAND ESSENTIAL. 


Theremin objects urgently to long introductions, 
especially in sacred oratory. He says: 

Time spent in merely paving the way for the idea (of the dis¬ 
course) might better be employed in the development of the 
idea itself. In the second place, the preliminary statements by 
which the orator would prepare the way for the theme are often 
as remote from the minds of the hearers as the theme itself, so that 
he might just as well employ that as to introduce the former. 
In the third place, since the mere desire for knowledge should 
be subordinate to the moral interest, the orator can hardly fail 
to interest the hearer in his main idea if he connects it immedi¬ 
ately with one of the higher moral ideas, namely, truth, happi¬ 
ness, or duty, which can be done without a long circumlocu¬ 
tion. 

While some of the above rules are not without im¬ 
portant exceptions, yet most of them will prove use¬ 
ful to the student, who will in addition be still more 
profited by such a generalization of the subject as 
will guide him correctly without burdening his mind 
with too many details. 

The one comprehensive quality suggestive of nearly 
all minor good qualities, and opposed to the more 
common vices of an exordium, is 'pertinence. 

Pertinence. p . i r* 

the quality of strict relevancy or fitness. 
The introduction of a discourse should be pertinent 
to the text, pertinent to the subject and style of dis¬ 
cussion, pertinent to the occasion and its demands, 
pertinent to the speaker and the audience, and perti¬ 
nent to its own design. This controlling idea of strict 
pertinency will sometimes suggest the idea of stimu¬ 
lating curiosity, sometimes of conciliating prejudice, 
sometimes of making a brief explanation of the text 
or context, and so on through the endless variety of 
possible introductions. The same idea will guard 
against prolixity, irrelevance, triteness, and other 
faults. 


MATEEIALS. 


167 


MATERIALS. 

The materials for introductions are abundant. 
They may be drawn from the context, from a kindred 
subject, from the importance of the subject itself, 
from an opposite subject by contrast, or from the 
surrounding circumstances of speaker or hearers. 
The chief difficulty is to select rightly, and skillfully 
adapt the thought chosen to the object in view. 

As to style, an introduction should never fail to be 
perspicuous, so that every hearer may comprehend it. 
Unity in an introduction requires that it embrace 
but one leading thought, and usually excludes divis 
ions. The same principle, when applied to the 
whole discourse, demands that the introduction blend 
harmoniously with the discussion, and be so naturally 
and skillfully joined to the argument that it may 
tend directly to the same result. 

ORDER OF PREPARATION. 

It has long been taught, that although the first to 
be used, the introduction is the last part of an ora¬ 
tion or sermon to be prepared. There may be cases 
in which this course will secure the best result, but 
in common practice it is of more than doubtful pro¬ 
priety. To say the least, it is unnatural. A better 
rule is, “Everything in its own order.” The course 
of thought which leads the mind of the speaker to his 
subject will usually be the best for his hearers. He 
should certainly claim the right of revision, improve¬ 
ment, and even of reconstruction, to the last. But if 
in commencing the arrangement of a discourse the 
mind, as it often will, should seize at once upon the 
appropriate initiatory matter, it is best to consider 


168 


OKDEK OF PREPAEATION. 


the introduction provided for, and'advance with a 
firm tread to the argument. 

A still greater error is that of regarding an intro- 
introductions duction as Something apart from the dis- 
Bhouid be spe itself, to he put on or taken ofif at 

pleasure. From this mistaken view arose the prac¬ 
tice of preparing introductions of various kinds in 
advance, from which selections might he made and 
used from time to time. The absurdity of this prac¬ 
tice was illustrated long ago hy the custom of those 
small sculptors who keep heads ready made, to he" 
fitted on to different bodies as their piece-work statu¬ 
ary may he constructed. 

Every discourse should have its own introduction, 
and on different occasions the same discourse may 
require to he differently prefaced. 

The reader should hear in mind that this subject is 
here treated under the head of disposition, and that 
the present work in no case recommends detailed 
composition in words until the whole thought-work 
of the discourse is planned. That being done, there 
appears no valid objection to the subsequent compo¬ 
sition of the entire discourse in the appropriate order 
of its parts. 

The objection of Cicero, repeated by various writ¬ 
ers on the subject from his day to the present, against 
composing the introduction prior to the argument, is 
equally valid against the composition of any part 
before the plan of the whole is arranged. 

Nothing tends more to weakness of structure, ver¬ 
bosity of language, and inefficiency of result than word- 
composition in advance of well-digested thought-com¬ 
position, toward which the act of disposition largely 
contributes. 


CONFUSED EMPLOYMENT OF TEEMS. 


169 


§ 2. The Akgument. 

As now to be considered, the argument is the body 
or principal part of a discourse—that to which the 
introduction leads and which the conclusion follows. 
In cases where formal introductions and conclusions, 
however brief, are omitted, it is the discourse itself. 

CONFUSED EMPLOYMENT OF TERMS. 

In the treatment of this subject great diversity, 
and even confusion, appears among writers on homi¬ 
letics. Claude, and those who have expanded his 
system, seemed to have overlooked the difference 
between disposition and division. Mistaking the 
latter for the former, the less for the greater, they 
have treated largely of the division of sermons, and 
with equal impropriety they have confounded the 
classification of sermons both with division and the 
various modes of treatment. Witness an extract 
from Sturtevant, whose work, entitled the Preacher’s 
Manual, is a voluminous commentary on Claude’s 
Essay: 

Different Methods of Division. —The various kinds of di¬ 
vision to which I shall have occasion to advert I will now pre¬ 
sent to you. They are textual or topical. The textual are such 
as fall into, 1. The natural Tcind of division. 2. The accommo- 
dational. 3. The expository. 4. The distrihutire. 5. The 
regular. 6. The interrogative. 7. The observational. 8. The 
propositional. 9. That of continued application. The topical 
kinds of division are extremely numerous. 

Keference is here made to the twenty-seven topics 
of Claude, which correspond in design with the 
twenty-eight Looi communes.^ or commonplaces of 
Aristotle. Intermingled with his treatment of his 


170 


IMPEEFECT SCHEMES. 


multitudinous kinds of division, this author speaks of 
“propositional discourses” and “descriptive dis¬ 
courses.” Other authors speak of textual discourses 
and topical discourses; as though the mere form of 
division were any just basis for the classification of 
discourses. 

The Rev. Daniel Moore, “in order to guard against 
disorderly sermonizing,” enumerates without refer¬ 
ence to division “ ten methods of discussion:” 1. By 
direct illustration. 2. By implication. 3. Observa¬ 
tion. 4. Confirmation. 5. The argumentative meth¬ 
od. 6. By the didactic method. 7. Investigation. 
8. Perpetual application. 9. Antithesis or contrast. 
10. By a method partly discussional and partly 
hortatory. 

Although presenting very just views on most sub¬ 
jects, this author seems to have no just conception of 
a systematic classification of sermons. He treats as 
supplemental topics of “ Expository preaching,” 
“Sermons to children,” “Sermons for charitable 
occasions,” and “ Open-air preaching,” showing that 
he has no place for them in his classification. 

Another class of writers, for example, Gresley in 
England, followed by Ripley in Hew England, have 
taken the opposite but equally unphilosophical course 
of dividing all sermons into two classes, namely, 
text-sermons and subject-sermons. The basis of this 
distinction is nothing more nor less than the differ¬ 
ence between textual and topical division. Its 
absurdity is seen in the implied supposition that a 
text-sermon may be without a subject and a subject- 
sermon without a text, whereas every proper sermon 
has both a text and a subject. 


TEXT AND SUBJECT. 


171 


PROPER RELATIONS OP THE TEXT AND SUBJECT. 

To reduce this whole matter to an intelligible and 
systematic form, let attention be first directed to the 
difference between the text and the theme of a ser¬ 
mon. The text should always contain the specific 
theme of any sermon based upon it. But most texts 
contain more themes than one, and the preacher 
should determine which particular theme contained 
in the text or suggested by it he will treat in any 
particular sermon. 

Thus the text, God so loved the world, that he 
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth 
in him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” 
(John iii, 16,) contains various important themes. 
Some of them may be thus stated: 

a. God’s great love for the world. 

h. God’s gift of his only begotten Son to save 
sinners. 

G. God’s gift of eternal life through the Son of his 
love. 

d. The perishing condition of the world without a 
Saviour. 

e. The necessity of faith in Christ as a means ol 
salvation. 

'Now whichever of these or of other topics con¬ 
tained in the text is selected by the preacher for any 
given occasion, becomes the theme or subject of his 
discourse. To that specific subject his introduction 
should lead, and his treatment or discussion of that 
subject becomes the argument of his sermon. In the 
case of an expository discourse, in which he seeks to 
give an exegesis of all that the text contains, his sub¬ 
ject should be stated in a generalization so broad as 
to include all the minor topics. For other objects, a 


1Y2 


TABULAE VIEW. 


generalization of a more specific character, usually 
bringing out some one of the minor topics, will be in 
place. But whatever be the subject and design of 
the discourse should be clearly apprehended from the 
beginning of one’s preparation. 

From the different classes of subjects and the cor¬ 
responding designs of sermons, arise certain differ¬ 
ent kinds of discussion or modes of treatment. Each 
of these kinds of discussion may sometimes require a 
division of the subject, while at other times the sub¬ 
ject maybe more satisfactorily discussed without any 
formal division. If division is thought desirable, 
choice may be made between textual and topical, in 
each of which one of several practicable kinds may be 
found preferable. To guard against misconception 
in the use of terms that have been so often and so 
long employed without a just perception of their 
relations to each other the following tabular 'oiew is 
introduced: 

TEXTS OF SCEIPTUEE involve 
The Subjects of Sermons. 

IN THE AEGUMENT, or development of the subject, 



kinds of discussion, 

or e.g.. 

modes of treatment; 


Subjects may have various 


fl. Textual^ 


(1. Natural, 

^2. Analytical. 
(3. Synthetical; 


Either kind of discussion may he con- J . , 

ducted by (or without) Division. 



Whatever form of sermon is thus produced may be 
classified, not according to the mode of treatment 



THE SERMON AS A WHOLE. 


173 


adopted or the style of division employed, but accord¬ 
ing to the subject and design of the discourse as a 
whole. Thus sermons may be classified as 1. Exposi¬ 
tory. 2. Hortatory. 3. Doctrinal. 4. Practical. 
5. Miscellaneous. 

From the above it will be seen that modes of 
treatment are subordinate fo subjects, and styles of 
division are subordinate to modes of treatment; while 
the classification of sermons rises higher than all 
these, and is controlled by a combined view of their 
subject and design. 

The following is a tabulated view of the sermon as 
a whole, showing the mutual relation of all its parts: 


The SEPMOH embraces 

The TEXT, The INTRODUCTION, The ARGUMENT, and the 
CONCLUSION. 

The INTRODUCTION leads from the text to the argument. 

The ARGUMENT develops the subject by discussion, often facili¬ 
tated by division. 

The argument is supplemented, applied, or followed by 

The CONCLUSION. 

The distribution of matter, with reference to its 
adaptation to the several parts, is the task of disposi¬ 
tion. The office of disposition, as applied to the 
argument, is to determine on the kind of discussion 
and the style of division that may be most appro¬ 
priately employed. 

To promote facility in deciding on these points, 
some further considerations will be presented in ref¬ 
erence to the nature and importance of the argument 
of a discourse. It should be borne in mind that the. 
term argument, in a rhetorical sense, is generic, 
embracing the idea of logical argument as a species. 
Whately says: “ The art of inventing and arranging 
(disposing) arguments is the immediate and proper 


174 


MODES OF DISCUSSION. 


province of rhetoric, and of that alone. The business 
of logic is to judge of arguments, not to invent them.” 

DIFFEEENT MODES OF DISCUSSION DISTINGUISHED. 

Rhetorical address always contemplates influence 
upon the mind of the hearers. A clear 

Essential object. . « , i? xl, • ja 

conception ot the nature ot the innuence 
to be produced is a prime essential to the mind of 
the speaker. Next to that is a knowledge of the 
means best adapted to produce the influence desired. 
Vagueness in conceiving of an explicit object for any 
sermon will lead to looseness of construction and 
inefliciency of result. Dullness in the invention, and 
unskillfulness in the disposition of materials, conduce 
to a similar end. Preachers should, therefore, accus¬ 
tom themselves to see the end from the beginning 
of their sermons, and to make all their preparations 
converge to a given point, and that point the im¬ 
pression of truth or duty on the minds of their 
hearers. 

With reference to the ancient division of oratory 
into three kinds, deliberative, judicial, and demon¬ 
strative, Aristotle showed that each kind had its 
speciflc end. He said: “That of the statesman is 
utility ; that of the pleader, justice; whereas glory 
occupies almost solely the wide fleld of demonstra¬ 
tion or panegyric.” 

When now we consider the end of the Gospel 
ministry to rise higher than all these secular ends, 
and to contemplate nothing less than the salvation 
of the souls of men, we perceive the ultimate object 
at which every sermon should aim. But as there 
are various steps intermediate to the attainment of 
this ultimate object, the preacher may primarily con¬ 
template either the declaration and illustration of the 


NATURE OF THE PREACHER’S WORK. 175 


truth of revelation, or the persuasion of men to its 
experience and practice; or, indeed, such a combina¬ 
tion of declaration, illustration, and persuasion as 
may result most favorably in the immediate or ulti¬ 
mate welfare of his hearers. 

The preacher’s work differs from that of the secular 
orator, or that of the mere rhetorician, in that he is fur¬ 
nished authoritatively with the burden of his message. 
Having, then, his message given him in the word proper 
of God, his primary task may be announced 
as that of explanation^ designed to make plain to his 
hearers the truth of revelation. The field covered 
by explanation is very broad. As treated in a recent 
practical work on rhetoric, it includes narration, 
description, analysis, exemplification, comparison, and 
contrast. In homiletics it is quite as well to con¬ 
fine the term explanation to its direct and primary 
signification, and according to established custom 
introduce, as the preacher’s second task, observation. 
Observation is employed as a means of illustrating 
truths which are obvious or familiar, but which 
nevertheless need to be presented in new combina¬ 
tions and for special objects. 

Again, many of the truths which the preacher has 
to announce are controverted, and he has to demon¬ 
strate them by reasoning and testimony. Hence, as 
all formal reasoning demands a proposition and 
proofs, we have as another kind ot discussion the 
propositional. Finally, as in preaching nothing 
avails which is not brought home to the conscience 
and life of the hearers, a fourth form of discussion 
arises, which is called the opplicatory^ or that of con¬ 
tinued application. 

Which of these kinds of discussion should be em¬ 
ployed in a sermon may be determined in view of, 


176 


MODES OF TREATMENT. 


1. The nature of the subject. 

2. The character of the audience. 

3. The special design of the discourse. 

In reference to the first point it is obvious that 
obscure and difficult subjects require explanation, 
and also that many plain subjects need to be made 
plainer and more familiar by means of observation. 

Again, if the subject be involved in doubt or con¬ 
troversy, it may often be most appropriately dis¬ 
cussed under the logical form of proposition and 
proof, while subjects of a deeply-afiecting and prac¬ 
tical character are suited to progressive or continued 
application. 

Again, a subject that would demand explanation 
or proof before one audience, may be adapted to the 
most direct application when presented to another. 
Finally, sermons on the same subject and to the 
same audience may differ greatly in their design. 
For instance, it would be proper to treat before any 
congregation the subject of faith in a series of dis¬ 
courses on the following themes, adapted to call out 
in turn the four principal kinds of discussion: 

1. The nature of faith. 

2. The happy infiuence of faith on the Christian 
life. 

3. The reasonableness of faith as a condition of 
salvation. 

4. The duty and necessity of believing. 

It is not necessary that the several kinds of dis¬ 
cussion be kept strictly separate from each other, 
nor is it asserted that they cover every form of rhe¬ 
torical development. It is sufficient to present them 
as the leading practical modes of treatment, and to 
illustrate them severally in order. 


EXPLANATORY. 


177 


EXPLANATORY DISCUSSION. 

The term explanatory is preferred in this connection 
to explicatory^ as used by Claude and Yinet, and to 
expository^ as employed by some others. Both these 
terms are too limited in their signification for generic 
use. The first, according to its etymology, (L. ex~ 
plicare^ signifies unfolding that which is bound 
together or intricate. Expository, from exponere, to 
lay out, applies by specific use to laying out or ex¬ 
pounding the meaning of the Scriptures. The term 
explanatory includes both these meanings, and still 
more. It indicates not only the design of making 
plain the word of Grod, but also the various subjects 
appropriately related to it. 

Direct explanation is specially applicable to diffi¬ 
cult texts and to doctrines, both of which need to be 
placed before the minds of the people in all the light 
and plainness of the truth. 

In treating easy texts a sufficient exposition ma;y 
often be given in the introduction, but in many pas-- 
sages of the Bible there is a deep meaning which can 
only be brought out by full and explicit presentation 
after long and careful study. ISTo preacher will wish 
to be constantly reiterating familiar truths, but rather 
will often desire to make plain to his hearers the 
“ deep things of God.” 

For this object patient investigation, and industri¬ 
ous labor to interpret correctly and express worthily 
“ the mind of the Spirit,” will need to be the rule of 
his ministerial life. 

A few cautions will be appropriate as to the frame 
of mind with which we should approach the expla¬ 
nation of the Scriptures. 

1. We should avoid magnifying difficulties, lest we 
12 


178 


MODES OF EXPLANATION. 


discourage our hearers and make them dread rather 
than love the study of the word of God. 

2. We should equally avoid overlooking or slight¬ 
ing difficulties, but should fairly state and candidly 
explain those that we attempt to treat. 

3. We should not pretend to discover new and rare 
meanings in every text that we endeavor to expound, 
lest we seem to be aiming at a display of our learn¬ 
ing or ingenuity. 

Rather, we should devoutly and reverently take the 
divine word as we find it, and by modest but earnest 
and prayerful efforts strive to bring its utmost, or at 
least its most important meaning to the understand¬ 
ing and hearts of our hearers. 

DEriNITION. 

The first subject of explanation in a text is its 
terms. These should be defined and illustrated as 
modestly and pertinently as possible. It is desirable 
to avoid any parade of etymological lore in the pul¬ 
pit, although it may be sometimes necessary to state 
briefly the derivation of words, or their precise mean¬ 
ing in the original. As a general rule, it is better to 
illustrate their signification by reference to their uses 
in Scripture and common language. 

From the explanation of terms we proceed to that 
of things, or the subject of discourse. Sometimes a 
subject may be approached negatively, by showing 
what it is not, or by removing erroneous conceptions 
with reference to it. 

Proposing to treat a subject affirmatively, the 
preacher has at his command either direct statement 
or the various resources of division; for details of 
which, with illustrative examples, the reader is re¬ 
ferred to the ensuing chapter. 


DESCRIPTION. 


179 


In explanatory discourse, tlie object being to inform 
and instruct, it is essentially important to secure tbe 
attention of the minds addressed. This must be done 
by the presentation of agreeable images in a pleasing 
order. 


NARRATION. 

Events are explained by narration, which is a con¬ 
tinuous statement of facts, real or imagined, either in 
the order of time or of cause and effect. Hot only 
events, but many abstract and spiritual subjects, may 
be treated in conformity with the laws of succession 
or of causal sequence. 

DESCRIPTION. 

Description is another form of explanation in which 
subjects are represented under the relations of space. 
Material objects exist in space, and are therefore 
the subjects of direct description. An example 
may be quoted from Psalm xlviii, 2: “ Beautiful for 
situation, the joy of the whole earth, is mount Zion, 
on the sides of the north.” Spiritual subjects may 
be conceived of under relations analogous to those 
of space. Thus the Kevelator, portraying the future 
glory of the redeemed Church, &ays: “I John saw 
the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from 
God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned 
for her husband.” 

It is essential in description that the view presented 
be continuous. The principle of juxtaposi- 
tion must govern the arrangement of topics. 

That is, topics must be described in the order of their 
connection, and the point of commencement should be 
taken with reference to continuous and instructive 
progression. 


180 


EXEMPLIFICATION. 


In order to a vivid description the speaker must 
have before his mind a clear conception 


Vivid conception. 


of the object he would delineate. Es¬ 
pecially is it important to all who would succeed in 
portraying abstract subjects clearly before the minds 
of others, first to array them with great clearness of 
outline before their own mental view. 


EXEMPLIFICATION. 

Exemplification is another process of explanation 
by which a whole theme is represented through some 
one of its parts as an example. Exemplification con¬ 
ducts the hearer from the known to the unknown, 
and enables him by easy advances to reach high and 
definite conceptions of very difficult or abstruse sub¬ 
jects. In this way general truths are made familiar 
by reference to particular truths already comprehend¬ 
ed, and the great laws of nature and providence by 
instances of every-day observation. 

Skill and good taste should always be manifest in 
the selection of examples, so that hearers may be at 
the same time interested and instructed. 

Historical examples are of great value in exempli¬ 
fying the character and results of human actions. 

The parables of our Lord illustrate nearly every 
principle taught in the present chapter. Desiring to 
explain to his disciples the principles of truth and 
righteousness, the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, 
he taught them in parables. He thus embodied in 
his explanatory discourses definition, narration, de¬ 
scription, and exemplification. 

Explanatory discussion may sometimes be appro¬ 
priately blended with propositional. For instance, 
the' preacher may explain an entire paragraph or 
chapter, and after due attention to the terms and 


OBSERVATIONAL DISCUSSION. 


181 


minor details, may appropriately condense into one 
or more propositions the principal teachings of the 
passage. 

While explanatory treatment is specially adapted 
to expository discourse, it may also be fitly employed 
in doctrinal and practical sermons. For example, a 
preacher selects the doctrine of Christian perfection, 
or that of the atonement, as his theme in a congrega- 
tion^where the doctrines are theoretically received 
but imperfectly understood. It is obvious that ex¬ 
planation would be his principal task. 

Again, he may think it proper to discuss the duty 
of brotherly love in a congregation where no one 
doubts the obligation or the importance of that duty, 
but where many fail rightly to comprehend the na¬ 
ture and the special application of it. In this case 
equally his task is that of explanation, and to that 
the argument or body of his discourse should be de¬ 
voted. 

Where the different kinds of discussion are more or 
less combined, that which predominates will govern 
the classification. 

OBSERVATIONAL DISCUSSION. 

The observational mode of treatment was largely 
and prominently developed by Claude, and since his 
day has been extensively practiced by English and 
American preachers. His hints respecting it are 
practically these: 

Observational discussion is applicable to, 

1. Clear texts, which do not require explanation; 
that is, in its proper sense of having difficulties or 
obscurities removed. 

2. Historical subjects. 

3. Observations may be appropriately mingled 


182 


BULES AND EXAMPLES. 


with explanations. In that case explanations have 
precedence. 

4. Observations should be theological or religious, 
as opposed to the merely historical, critical, or phil¬ 
osophical. 

6. They should neither be scholastic nor common¬ 
place, but dignified, urbane, and adapted to the com¬ 
prehension of the people. 

6. They should not be dry, spiritless, or formal. 

The last three remarks are equally applicable to 
every other style of treatment. 

As an example of observational discussion upon a 
plain text, the following outline plan is adduced 
from Beddome: 

Text. Acts ix, 14: Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 

SiJBJEOT. SauVs AwaTcening. 

I. It is the general character of unconverted men to he of a 
persecuting spirit. 

II. Christ has his eye upon persecutors. 

III. The kindness or injury done to his people Christ considers 
done to himself. 

IV. Christ’s call to the persecutor was to convince him of sin 
as the first step to conversion. 

V. The calls of Christ are earnest and particular: “Saul, 
Saul?” 

VI. Christ condescends to reason with Saul: “ Why persecut¬ 
est thou ?” etc. 

This style of discussion admits of a greater enumer- 
ation of particulars than any other, and yet it needs 
to be guarded by careful attention to the following 
rules: 

1. Let the application of the several observations 
to the subject in hand be obvious. 

2. Let them have unity and converge to a given 
point, so as to make a forcible impression. 


HISTOEICAL SUBJECTS. 


183 


Observational treatment nnskillfully employed be¬ 
comes puerile; used with discretion and ingenuity it 
becomes highly interesting. The undivided essay 
style of many modern sermons is an abuse, or at best 
a poorly managed excess of observational discussion. 
It rambles hither and thither, having no apparent 
object in view, and accomplishing nothing beyond 
the stringing together of an indefinite number of 
inorganic miscellanies. 'No small ridicule has been 
expended upon those punctilious old preachers who 
occasionally reached their fifty-sixthly, and in one 
case, it is said, even his one hundred and seventy- 
sixthly; but even their error, if they maintained a 
logical connection of ideas, was not more gross than 
that of ignoring connection altogether. Let those 
who treat subjects observationally beware of rambling 
and incoherence. 

Another example is subjoined to illustrate the 
application of this kind of discussion to historical 
subjects. 

The aim of the preacher in all such plans should 
be to eliminate principles of truth and deduce prac¬ 
tical admonitions from each prominent fact in the 
course of the history. 


Text. 1 Kings xv, 34: And he did evil in the sight of tlie 
Lord, and walked in tlie way of Jeroboam, and in his sin where¬ 
with he made Israel to sin. 

Subject. The Power and Consequences of Enil Example. 

Inteoduction, The early history of Jeroboam. 

Observation 1. His political success was followed by an 
ambition to perpetuate his sovereignty. Possessed of this he 
became unscrupulous. Chap, xii, 26. 

2. He made a plan to subvert the religion of his country. He 
set up idolatrous establishments, and induced a compliance of 
the people with his iniquity, xii, 27-33. 


184 


PEOPOSITIONAL DISCUSSION. 


3. He encountered fearful rebukes at the hand of the Lord, 
xiii, 1-6; xiv, 7-16. 

4. He at length died in defeat by providential visitation. 
2 Chron. xiii, 16-20. Also within a year his son and family 
were slain by one who had followed his own idolatrous example. 

5. Notwithstanding these terrible judgments his example was 
followed by the kings of Israel (including Baasha) for two cen¬ 
turies and a half, until the sins of the nation had provoked God 
to utterly overthrow and scatter so corrupt and rebellious a 
people. 

Conclusion. The danger and responsibility of persons in 
authority. The ruinous and endless consequences of causing 
others to sin. 


PROPOSITIONAL DISCUSSION. 

This mode of treatment requires the principal 
truths of the text or subject to be stated in the form 
of one or more propositions for demonstration. It 
appeals to the reasoning faculties of an audience, and 
demands connected argumentation from the speaker. 
It applies especially to the refutation of errors, the 
establishment of truth, the confirmation of faith, and 
the proof and enforcement of duties. It involves the 
Reference to ^ight use of all the material of logic. It 
logic. employs every species of evidence, whether 
of testimony, of experience, of authority, of probabil¬ 
ity, or of analogy. It addresses every form of motive. 

The theory of argumentation is so fully developed 
in works on logic and rhetoric as not to require 
minute statement here. It may be well, however, 
to observe that in all our pulpit reasonings we 
should aim to be models of candor, never attempt¬ 
ing to pass off for sound arguments those which 
are weak or specious. A prime requisite in this 
kind of discussion is clearness of statement. Prop¬ 
ositions should be brief and transparent, seldom 
if ever couched in long or involved sentences. An 


EXAMPLES. 


185 


old maxim relating to this subject deserves to be 
held in perpetual remembrance. State your propo¬ 
sition clearly and prove it powerfully ^ then you will 
be prepared to persuade impressively. 

Example of treatment with a single proposition : 

Text. Psa. xiv, 1: The fool hath said in his heart, There is 
no (jod. 

Subject. The Absurdity of Atheism. 

That atheism is absurd is proved, 

1. By its assertion that creation is without a cause. 

2. By its contradiction of the universal consciousness of men. 

3. By its being the utterance only of the heart (not the judg¬ 
ment) even of fools. 

An example of two consecutive propositions from 
Claude: 

Text. Rom. viii, 13: For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall 
die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the 
body, ye shall live. 

Subject. The Death and Life of the Soul. 

I. The damnation of sinners is inevitable. 

II. A life formed by the Spirit of holiness cannot fail to issue 
in eternal happiness. 

Sometimes this kind of discussion calls out a regu¬ 
lar series of propositions, each successive member of 
the series bearing more and more forcibly upon the 
point to which it is designed to carry the hearer’s 
convictions. The following is an example from Eev. 
J,. Parsons, an English preacher of celebrity: 

Text. Luke xvi, 27-31: Dialogue between the rich man and 
Abraham. 

Subject. The Claims of Revealed Truth. 

Inteoduotion. The narrative applied to an illustration of our 
future state. 

I. There exists a revelation from God, designed for the guid¬ 
ance and salvation of man. 

II. This revelation is fully qualified to accomplish the purpose 
for which it was given. 


186 


EHETORICAL RULEfe. 


III. On tlie rejection of revelation it is not to be expected 

that any supernatural visitations would produce a saving im¬ 
pression on the heart. ^ 

IV. The rejection of divine revelation is the cause of future 
condemnation and misery. ’ 

In this style of treatment it is not necessary to 
Non essenfais your liearers in advance of the 

object contemplated in your discussion. 
You may argue inductively, and state your result 
at the conclusion of your argument. Such a result 
would be eminently proper where prejudices would 
be excited by a premature announcement of your 
proposition, l^either is it essential to number your 
arguments and state them in a formal manner. 
Nevertheless, it is essential to arrange them properly 
as well as state them clearly, since the force of 
reasoning depends hardly less on the order than on 
the matter of proofs. 

The rules of rhetoricians on this subject usually 
make the following points: 

1. Avoid blending arguments that are distinct in 
their nature. 

2. Let arguments of diifferent degrees of strength 
advance in the order of climax. 

3. Display clearly and distinctly arguments that 
are strong and conclusive; those that are doubtful 
may run into one another for mutual support. 

4. Do not extend arguments too far, nor multiply 
them too much. 

Day, in his Elements of Ehetoric, states the prin¬ 
ciples involved in the subject in terms specially 
worthy of attention: 

The arrangement of arguments depends mainly on two prin¬ 
ciples. The first respects the state of mind addressed. The 
second respects the dependence of proofs on one another. 


AKRANGEMENT QF ARGUMENT. 


187 


In reference to the first, if there be already a state of belief, 
and the object of the discourse is to confirm and sta’engthen it, 
then the weaker arguments will generally need to be placed first 
and the stronger ones last. 

If there be an opposing belief to be set aside it will be better 
to advance the stronger first, in order to overthrow opposition 
at once. Tlie weaker may follow, which may serve to confirm, 
though they would be of no avail in the first assault. In order 
to leave, however, a strong impression, some of the stronger 
should be reserved to the close, or, what is equivalent, the argu¬ 
ments recapitulated in the reverse order. 

In reference to the second principle, some proofs are explained 
by others, which must be previously exhibited in order to the 
full effect of the reasoning. Some proofs presuppose others. 
Some have great weight if preceded by certain others, and are 
of little moment unless preceded by them. 

This principle requires, in the first place, that analytic proofs 
precede all others; in the second place, that arguments of ante¬ 
cedent probability precede examples and signs. 

It is quite possible to lessen the popular estimation 
of propositional discussion by technical formalities or 
by excessive use. Nevertheless, its intrinsic value is 
verj^ great. 

When Paul, though a prisoner, stood before Felix 
and reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judg¬ 
ment to come, Felix trembled. Let there be more 
thorough and solid reasoning in our pulpits of the 
present day on the great and impressive themes of 
the Gospel, and fewer pretty orations, popular essays, 
and commonplace exhortations, and more sinners 
will be convinced and made to tremble and bow be¬ 
fore the majesty of truth. 

APPLICATOEY DISCUSSION. 

This is one of the most important forms of pulpit 
address, and that for which much of the preceding 
instruction is preparatory. “ The distinctive agency 


188 


APPLICATOBY DISCUSSION 


of the orator,” says Theremin, “ consists in giving a 
powerful impulse and direction to the mind, and he 
is not equal to this unless the goal to which he 
would direct them is plainly in his eye, and unless he 
earnestly desires to reach it himself.” 

If this he the characteristic of oratory, as dis¬ 
tinguished from poetry and all those branches of litera¬ 
ture which merely aim to please or to entertain, it is 
emphatically true of preaching, which, more than 
any other branch of oratory, demands positive influ¬ 
ence, both moral and spiritual, as its result. 

An explanation may make a truth very intelli¬ 
gible, an observation may show it to he interesting 
and important, a well-argued proposition may dem¬ 
onstrate it beyond controversy, and yet a special 
application may be necessary to bring it home to the 
heart and conscience of the hearer. Explanation 
may exhibit the learning or good understanding of the 
preacher; observation may indicate his wisdom and 
argumentation his talent; hut without close and 

direct address he will make hut a poor 

Direct address. * 

and leehle maniiestation of Christian 
feeling. 'No sermon can he expected to answer 
any high religious end without direct address in 
some form. 

Sermons constructed rigidly on either of the fore¬ 
going modes of treatment should make their applica¬ 
tion in the conclusion. Perorations require applica- 
tory address throughout. But there is oftentimes 
danger of failure in withholding the application of 
truth too long. Its edge may he hlunted hy suspense, 
and its glowing, burning power may cool off with 
delay. What is perhaps worse, if the application is 
habitually reserved for the conclusion, wary hearers, 
to whom severe truth is unacceptable, also form the 


AS A LEADING IDEA. 


189 


habit of evading its power. It is the office of emo¬ 
tion as well as of judgment to induce decisions of the 
will; and as mental acts are closely related to each 
other, if not concurrent, the preacher must ever be on 
the alert for the golden moment of persuasion. 

Whatever mode of treatment predominates in a 
well-planned discourse may frequently require to 
have direct address intermingled with it, and the skill 
of the preacher is indicated by his capacity to inter¬ 
blend it in fitting proportions. Applicatory discussion 
fuses readily with each of the other kinds. For ex¬ 
ample, when we explain the meaning of a given text, 
how natural and appropriate to apply, at least briefly 
or by inference, that meaning to the condition and 
immediate duties of our hearers. When we make an 
observation upon Scripture truth, or upon man’s rela¬ 
tions, as indicated by the word of God, how fitting is 
it also to apply the moral lesson to personal obliga¬ 
tion and the circumstances which surround us. Again, 
when we prove a Scripture doctrine or duty, how 
essential is it to show its application to the daily life 
of our hearers, and not to leave them to vague infer¬ 
ences or unguided conjectures. 

But in addition to these uses of direct address, there 
are many cases in which it should predominate— 
should itself take the lead, and employ explanation, 
observation, and argumentation, one or all, as sub¬ 
sidiaries. Such is generally the case in hortatory ser¬ 
mons. 

The Bible abounds in direct address. It specially 
and repeatedly addresses persons, characters. Churches, 
communities, and nations. It therefore becomes the 
preacher often to take up the word of God in this 
form, and to echo it in the name and authority ot the 
divine Master to the hearts and consciences ol men. 


190 


EXAMPLE. 


Important The contiiiued application of Christian truth 
object. noblest results to which a 

preacher can hope to attain. It involves engaging 
both the attention and the feelings of an audience 
from the first, and maintaining an increasing interest 
in the subject to the last. 

Whoever can thus bring the truth into living con¬ 
tact with the souls of men. may be sure that it will 
perform its own ofiice upon them. 

To encourage practice in applicatory discussion a 
plain example is subjoined. 

Text. Acts xvii, 30: But now commandeth all men every¬ 
where to repent. 

Subject. The Duty of Repentance. 

I. The present audience is included in this command. “ All 
men every where.” 

II. The duty of repentance is to every one of us essential to 
salvation. God commands it in this and other Scriptures. 

III. The imperative duty of every sinner is to repent “now.” 

This example shows that applicatory address may 
appropriately assume the form of a series of observa¬ 
tions or propositions in which the first makes a direct 
appeal to the hearer, and each succeeding one presses 
that appeal with augmented force. 

But it is not limited to any set forms. Indeed, it 
may often be accomplished almost unconsciously to 
the hearer. In numerous cases this is the better way, 
since many hearers shrink away from the form of di¬ 
rect address. Hence the preacher should 

SkiU needed. . . ,. . 

seek to interest men in religious truth for 
the truth’s sake, even though they are not interested 
in religion for its intrinsic importance or in view of 
their own welfare. 

Such persons may often be led gently along toward 
the cross, and by degrees they may be prepared for all 


GENEBALITIES POWERLESS. 


191 


the solemnities of direct appeal with reference to life, 
death, the judgment, and eternity. A skillful preach¬ 
er, contemplating this style of address, will always 
seek to have the way duly prepared for it, whether in 
one or many discourses. 

The lack of such a preparation will sometimes neu¬ 
tralize the influence of a sermon which would have 
been at the appropriate moment greatly efiicacious 
for good. 

While, therefore, the great necessity of direct ap¬ 
plication is urged, its skillful use should be deemed 
equally important. The gentle shower prepares the 
way for the heavy rain. So the preacher, from indi¬ 
rect and informal applications of truth, should rise 
gradually to the point where, if necessary, his hearers 
will welcome the driving storm, and not be startled 
with even the rushing tempest. 

The style of discussion now commended rejects 
vague generalities; for, as Jeremy Taylor says, “gen¬ 
erals not explicated do fill people’s heads with empty 
notions, and their mouths with perpetual unintelligi¬ 
ble talk, but their hearts remain empty and them¬ 
selves are not edified.” Hence the preacher who 
would apply his subject must be specific, and often 
minute, in detail. He should seek the golden mean 
between vulgarity and an afiected indifference to the 
common realities of life. Like the apostle, he should 
use great plainness of speech, and yet he should care¬ 
fully maintain both the dignity of his subject and of 
his office. 

In all circumstances let him avoid personalities. 
To quote again from Bishop Taylor in his advice to 
his clergy: “ In the reproof of sin be as particular as 
you please, and spare no man’s sin, but meddle with 
no man’s person ; neither name any man, nor signify 


192 THE TIMES DEMAND DIRECTNESS. 

Mm, nor cause him to be suspected. He that doeth 
otherwise maketh his sermon a libel, and the ministry 
of repentance an instrument of revenge, and in so 
doing he shall exasperate the man, but never amend 
the sinner.” 

For lack of that just combination of skillfulness 
and faithfulness which the preaching of the Gospel 
requires, the pulpit has been rendered comparatively 
powerless during whole ages of its history. For suc¬ 
cessive centuries it was shackled with scholastic forms, 
trite in subject and wearisome in manner. The re¬ 
action against forms and enumerated points has not 
unfrequently degenerated into irrelevance and feeble¬ 
ness. With dull and pointless preaching religion has 
invariably declined; while reformations have ever 
followed a direct and pungent utterance of evangel¬ 
ical truth. 

Indeed, directness in preaching is the only just ex¬ 
ponent of evangelical doctrine or of true religious feel¬ 
ing. This quality of preaching was specially charac¬ 
teristic of the Wesleyan reformation, and during the 
last hundred years it has become widely diffused 
throughout Protestant Christendom. Breaking over 
the hoary restraints of scholasticism, it has disturbed 
the torpor of spiritual death, and roused the world to 
a new religious activity. 

The age in which we live, more than any preced¬ 
ing one, demands direct address on religious subjects. 
In the bustle and excitements of the present day, and 
especially in our own country, men have neither time 
nor disposition for vague hints or round-about com¬ 
munications on any subject, and especially on a sub¬ 
ject to which, though they perceive its importance, 
they have a natural and habitual disinclination. Con¬ 
sequently the American preacher especially has need 


THE TIMES DEMAND DIRECTNESS. 193 

to study both directness of thought and of utterance 
in order reasonably to cherish the most distant hope 
of success.* 

Some there may be, even in these times, who go 
through a certain routine of pulpit and pastoral serv¬ 
ice without even sufficiently waking up to think what 
their responsibilities do most demand; others content 
themselves with preparing brilliant essays message 

and fine orations for pulpit delivery; but 
the true preacher must feel that he has a message 
from God to the souls of the people, and must be 
studious of the most effective manner of its pre¬ 
sentation. Whatever his particular subject may be, 
he will not feel that his work with it is done until 
he has in such a manner applied it to the people as 
to alarm their fears, quicken their hopes, excite their 
devotions, and prompt their religious efforts. 

In this great work he will find that however much 
the mind may be enlightened and the judgment regu¬ 
lated in other ways, the persuasion of direct address 
must be employed to control the will and the affec¬ 
tions. Indeed, the superiority of persuasion has been 
conceded in all ages. The ancients regarded it as 
embodying so nearly the whole of the orator’s Work 
that they defined oratory to be the art of persuasion. 

Certainly its application to Christianity does not 
detract from this its essential feature. True Chris¬ 
tian ministers in all ages can say with the apostle, 

* Vinet well says : “ The use of the allocutive form, or that of direct 
address to the hearers, is a means of retaining the direct style. Without 
this a discourse is not a discourse, but a book. The use of this form 
compels us constantly to recur to the direct style, which is the truly pow¬ 
erful, truly oratorical style. For two reasons I commend this form: 
first, because the constant use of it will make you almost sure of attain¬ 
ing the direct style, which is so rare and so difficult; next, because in 
discourse properly so called it is the only true form, and whatever is 
false is feeble.'^—Skinner^s Translation^ p. 451. 

13 


194 


CHRISTIAN PERSUASION. 


“ Knowing therefore the terrors of the Lord, we 
persuade men.” 

What a vast and important field opens before them 
The field of per- work of porsuasiou ! The con- 

Buasion. science, the will, the affections, and the 
passions of men are the legitimate objects of their ad¬ 
dress. They may by a right use of the material giv¬ 
en them arouse fear and inspire hope, they may ex¬ 
cite lovje to God and Christ and men. They may 
excite the highest and noblest joys, and promote with¬ 
in the souls of their fellow-mortals every Christian 
grace and virtue. 

To such a glorious work the truths of the Gospel 
are perfectly adapted. They are sufficient for all the 
varying circumstances, wants, trials, hopes and fears, 
sympathies and responsibilities of men. 

But in order to use them with due effect, a deep 
and heartfelt experience in the things of God is es¬ 
sential to the Christian minister. This alone enables 
him to speak, as the common phrase has it, ^^from the 
heart to the heart.” Scarcely less does a minister 
need, as a means of successful direct address, a large 
practical acquaintance with mankind. Without it 
he will be in danger of perpetual mistake. He needs 
not only to study his own heart, as did Massillon, but 
to study his congregation and the community in 
which he lives, their modes of thought, feeling, excuse, 
and temptation. 

With these prerequisites he may undertake often, 
and in all its forms, the applicatory treatment of the 
various appropriate themes of his ministry. 


NATUKE AND IMPOKTANCE OF PRAXIS. 195 


CHAPTER VIII. 

HOMILETICAL PRAXIS ON THE ARGUMENT. 

NATURE AND IMPORTANCE OF PRAXIS. 

Students in liomiletics should not content them¬ 
selves with merely comprehending a correct theory 
for the construction of sermons. They should make 
themselves familiar by repeated practice with the va¬ 
rious kinds of discussion, and also with the styles of 
division which logicians and orators have elaborated 
as a means of developing and impressing truth. 

Praxis for this object, as in mathematical studies, 
is to be commended as an excellent mental discipline, 
and if extended over a variety of forms and contin¬ 
ued for a sufficient length of time will secure to the 
intending preacher a facility of invention and dis¬ 
position which will be an invaluable aid to him in 
the composition of sermons. 

A lack of the necessary instruction and drill at this 
point has caused many well-meaning men to be mis¬ 
erably dependent on others for the plans of their ser¬ 
mons. It is this which has created a demand for 
books of skeletons, and has caused thousands of 
preachers to content themselves with being mere 
copyists, not to say plagiarists, when they ought to 
have been both independent and progressive in their 
capacity of sermonizing. 

The object of the present chapter is to furnish an 
outline of example and practice from which a student 
may acquire a correct knowledge of the principles 
involved in practical disposition, and may thus be 


196 


IMPORTANCE OF PRAXIS. 


enabled to employ technical forms correctly when it 
is desirable to use them, and also to know when to 
dispense with them to advantage. 

It is a blind prejudice that would enjoin a total 
rejection of forms because forms have been abused; 
Proper use of ^ servility that will enslave 

forms. itself to forms for forms’ sake. A good 
mechanic needs to know the use of every tool belong¬ 
ing to his craft, and yet it is possible that the best 
mechanics will use the fewest implements. So every 
one in the Gospel ministry desiring to become a 
workman that needeth not to be ashamed should en¬ 
deavor to acquaint himself with all the agencies that 
have contributed to excellence in preaching, that he 
may employ them readily whenever they may sub¬ 
serve a good purpose, or lay them aside gracefully 
whenever he can attain a better result without 
them.* 

In practical sermonizing the process of invention 
in outline, as heretofore described, is first in order, as 
a means of ascertaining the fruitfulness of a subject 
and the most available lines of thought. Hext in 
order, and the first legitimate work of disposition, is 

* To corroborate the position taken in this chapter, and illustrate the 
importance of homiletical praxis, the following extract is condensed and 
copied from Vinet’s remarks on Self-culture with reference to disposi¬ 
tion : 

“ To attain to the best possible, more and better practice and experi¬ 
ence are necessary. Practice should be accompanied by and should 
provoke meditation; we should give thought to our modes of procedure, 
remark our faults, turn them to our advantage, interrogate our intellect¬ 
ual conscience. 

“ I would say to those who have time. Be not vain of a foolish rapid¬ 
ity. Do again what you have done. Regard a first effort only as a trial 
of your strength, a rough draft of what you have in hand. By one 
trial after another see how you may better arrange, better fuse together 
the different elements of your work. 

“Finally, study models; analyze their method; endeavor to rival 
them. On the same subjects compare models with models.” 


IMPORTANCE OF GENERALIZATION. 197 


GENERALIZATION. 

Sir William Hamilton defines generalization as 
“ the process of evolving the general or one ont of the 
individnal and manifold.” 

In homiletics it is the deduction of a specific theme 
from a text of Scripture. In its broadest sense, and 
generally for the purpose of exposition, it seeks the 
meaning of the text as a whole. Disregarding for 
the time those differences which may exist in the ele¬ 
ments of a passage, it proceeds to group together all its 
essential ideas, and to condense them into a compre¬ 
hensive form of statement denominated a categorical 
or direct proposition. For the purpose of deducing 
specific themes adapted to topical preaching minor 
generalizations may be made, as shown on page 171 , 
chapter vii. 

Hothing is so indispensable to unity as this prac¬ 
tice of generalization. If attended to in Essentia to 
its proper order it prescribes the just limits 
of a discourse, and often suggests its most appropriate 
mode of treatment. If omitted, then the preparation 
is likely to become vague, and generalization will 
with difficulty be applied afterward. In the neglect 
of this simple but fundamental principle, thousands 
of so-called sermons have been preached, of which it 
would puzzle both preacher and hearers to name the 
exact subject. 

It is therefore recommended as an invariable rule 
to employ generalization upon the text as a primary 
process of disposition, and as a means of fixing upon 
the precise subject of the sermon proposed. 


198 


DIYISIOIT. 


DIVISION. 

When the subject is determined upon, and the kind 
of discussion chosen, the next step in order is analy¬ 
sis, vt^hich is practically equivalent to division. 

As heretofore explained, disposition arranges the 
whole matter of a sermon from the introduction to 
the conclusion. Division is applied in the construc¬ 
tion and disposition of the argument. 

Partition, as used by the ancients, was the formal 
statement of division, in which sense there is no 
longer any use for the term. Some modern writers 
have sought to assign it to an office coordinate with 
division, in the idea that division separates a theme 
into similar parts and partition into constituent parts. 
In other words, they would have division divide and 
partition subdivide. This is to maintain a distinction 
without an essential difference. It is better to say 
that division both divides and subdivides. Hence in 
this work, division will be treated as a single topic, 
and if the term partition be used it will be as a 
synonym of division. 

Division for rhetorical purposes is practically a 
Amodeofdef- systcmatic modc of definition. It shows 
inition. ^]2at belongs to a subject by bringing 

into distinct view its several elements. The process 
of division is exactly opposite to that of generaliza¬ 
tion. Generalization disregards the differences be¬ 
tween individual parts or elements, and embraces 
only the properties they have in common. Division 
resolves the generalization into individual parts, and 
sets forth their respective differences. 

As we know things or subjects only by the concep¬ 
tions we form of them, we can of course only define 
them by the statement of those conceptions. To 


IMPORTANCE OF ANALYSIS. 


199 


define anything, therefore, is to give in analysis the 
conception we have of it. We thus enable others to 
form similar conceptions, and this is the process of 
instruction. 

Logic teaches that a conception cannot he conveyed 
or transferred from one mind to another as a whole. 
Hence the necessity of such an analysis as will ex¬ 
hibit in the most striking manner the essential resem¬ 
blances and differences of the included parts. It is 
the work of all instructors so to plan and exhibit 
analyses of their subjects as to engage the attention 
and aid the comprehension of learners. Instruction 
is often rendered more complete by reversing the 
process after the conception is properly transferred, 
and by synthesis enabling the learner to gather up 
the elements into a whole, and remember them in the 
form of the original generalization. 

The inverse processes of generalization and division 
may be illustrated by a simple logical scheme, which 
may be applied to any subject and extended almost 
indefinitely. 

GENERALIZATION. 


This and that particular. This or that particular. This or that particular. Individual. 


whether 

White, Red, or Black, 

whether 
Hard or Sqft, 

whether 

Sv/mmer.Falhor Winter, Variety. 

• OAK, 

MAPLE, 

APPLE, 

SPECIES. 

is comprehended in the one idea of a 

TREE. 

GENUS. 


DIVISION. 




A TREE 
may be either 


GENUS. 

OAK, 

MAPLE, 

APPLE, 

SPECIES. 

'White, Red, or Black. 

Hard or Soft. 

Summer, Fall, or Winter. 

Variety. 

This or that Individual 
W. R, and B. Oaks. 

This Individual 
H. and S. M. 

This or that Individual. 

Individuals. 


. Thus it will be seen that generalization traces affin¬ 
ities downward or inward to a common center, while 
















200 RULES OF DIVISION. 

division from a common center traces differences 
outward. 

It is not within the design of this volume to give 
minute instruction in methodology. The author 
must therefore content himself with recommending 
students to make themselves very familiar with its 
processes as taught by logicians and applied in the 
systematic classification of the various sciences and 
branches of human knowledge. Hot that it is desir¬ 
able to introduce its technicalities into homiletics, 
but that it is very important for the homiletical stu¬ 
dent to profit by the mental discipline to be derived 
from this study, and by the nice distinctions it will 
enable him to make. 

The following rules of division are specially appro¬ 
priate to the construction of sermons. 

RULES OF DIVISION. 

1. Let the theme to be divided be single, and let 
but a single principle of division be followed. 

2. Employ that principle of division which is best 
adapted to the special design of the address. 

3. Let the divisions be few in number, and ex¬ 
pressed with clearness and brevity. 

4. Nevertheless, the divisions of a subject should 
be comprehensive, and if practicable exhaustive, that 
is, embracing parts which equal the whole. 

5. Divisions should be coordinate, that is, of the 
same rank or class, avoiding the confusion of particu¬ 
lars with generals or species with genera; for example, 
oaks and elms with trees, roses with flowers, etc. 

6. Divisions should be well arranged; not always 
in the same order, but always in correspondence to 
each other, and with a view to mutual dependence 
and support. 


PRACTICAL DIVISION. 


201 


The following may be stated as the leading prin¬ 
ciples of arrangement: 

1. ) The order of nature, including time, contiguity, 
progress, etc. 

2. ) The order of climax, and occasionally anticlimax. 

3. ) The order of augmenting force. 

Departures from these principles invariably tend 

to confuse thought and weaken expression. 

In homiletics two leading styles of division are 
recognized, the textual and the topical. 

Authors have greatly differed in their treat- 
ment of these branches of division, and as a conse¬ 
quence many persons have failed to comprehend 
their mutual relations, if not the true character of 
both. The object will now be to exhibit briefly the 
true character and the proper uses of each. 

§ 1. Textual Division. 

Textual division resolves the words of a text into 
the principal heads of discourse. It regards the text 
itself as the theme of the sermon. It employs gen¬ 
eralization chiefly as a means of reducing the theme 
to its briefest form of statement. 

While in topical division the subject is divided, 
in textual the elements of division are furnished in 
the words of Scripture found in the text, or their 
equivalents. 

Many reject this style of division on account of its 
simplicity, and yet it is often beautiful in its 
application, and more than any other adapted 
to aid in the lucid declaration of the truth of God. 
It is specially applicable to texts containing precepts, 
commands, promises, warnings, and facts; also, to 
exposition. 

Textual division is not limited to any set number 


202 


EXAMPLES. 


of forms, and yet there are three principal forms 
which are found to comprehend all the most import¬ 
ant examples. They are, 1. That of the natural 
order; 2. That of analysis; 3. That of synthesis. 
For the sake of brevity they may be denominated, 

1. Textual Natural. 2. Textual Analytical. 
3. Textual Synthetical. 

I. The Natural Order of textual division suits 
those texts in which distinctions of ideas already 
exist, and require only to he noted. 

EXAMPLES. 

Text. Rom. xii, 12, Subject. Qualities of Christian Gha/raeter. 

I. Rejoicing in hope. 

II. Patient in tribulation. 

III. Continuing instant in prayer. 

Text. 1 Cor. xiii, 13. Subject. The Abiding Graces. 

I. Faith. 

II. Hope. 

III. Charity. 

Text. James iv, 2, 3. Subject. The Sterility of our Prayers. 

I. We have not, because we ask not. 

II. We ask and receive not, because we ask amiss. 

—Bouedaloue. 

Text. 1 Johnii, 16. Subject. The Elements of Worldliness. 

I. The lust of the flesh. 

II. The lust of the eyes. 

III. The pride of life.— Bossuet. 

The natural order is also appropriately observed 
in many texts in which slight additions to the words 
will construct a series of propositions. 

EXAMPLE. 

Border’s division of Titus ii, 11,12: For the grace of God, etc. 

Subject. Characteristics of the Gospel. 

I. It is the gift or grace of God. 

II. It brings salvation. 


EXAMPLES. 


203 


III. It has appeared unto all men. 

IV. It teaches us to live a holy life. 1. Denying ourselves. 
2. Living soberly. 3. Living righteously. 4. Living godly. 

The natural order may be followed with great 
convenience and pertinence in large numbers of 
expository discourses, both when short and long 
texts are taken. 

EXAMPLES. 

Text. John i, 1*7 : For the law was given by Moses, but grace 
and truth came by Jesus Christ. 

Subject. The Grand Agencies of Religious Instruction. 

I. The law. 1. Given by Moses. 2. Designed, etc. 

11. The Gospel in its prime elements. 1. Of grace. 2. Of 
truth. 

Text. Psa. i. Subject. Two Characters., two Destinies. 

1. Blessedness of the righteous man. 

1. Who avoids evil; 

(1. By walking not, etc. (2. By standing not, etc. (3. By 
sitting not, etc. 

2. Who conforms to God’s will; 

(1. By delighting in his daw. (2. By meditating upon his 
truth. 1.) Day. 2.) Night. 

3. Who is prospered in all things; 

(1. Like a well-planted tree. (2. Fruitful. (3. Unwithering. 

II. Contrasted condition of the ungodly. 

Hot so. But, 1. Like the chaff, etc. 

2. Not to stand in the judgment, etc.; but, 

3. Finally to perish. 

TEXTUAL ANALYTICAL. 

In this method interrogation is the solvent, or 
instrument of analysis, by means of which the 
important points of a text are brought strikingly 
into view. 

Interrogation is the key of knowledge, which, per- 
severingly applied, will unlock the most intricate 
labyrinths of truth. An excellent mode of invest!- 


204 


INTERKOQATION. 


gating many passages of Scripture is to apply to 
them the simple interrogatories, Who ? what ? when ? 
where ? how ? why ? etc. 

Who brings out the actor or speaker; what, the act 
or subject; when, the time ; where, the place ; how, 
the manner; and why, the reason. 

Upon the strict relevancy of the answers to two or 
more of such questions, and that in the 
words of the text or nearly so, depends the 
propriety of employing upon that text the interroga¬ 
tive or analytical division. In no instance should 
many questions be employed; and if in any case the 
textual answers are not adapted to become the heads 
of discourse, some other kind of division should be 
adopted. 

EXAMPLES. 

Text. Matt, vi, 33; Seek ye first the kingdom of God. 

Subject. The Supreme Object of Human Endeavor. 

I. What should men seek? “The kingdom of God and his 

righteousness.” • 

II. How should it be sought? “First” in order of time, of 
importance, etc. 

III. Why? 

1. Our Lord commands, “Seek ye.” 

2. He also promises, “All these things shall he added unto 
you.” 

The above plan is altered from Jay. 

Text. 1 Peter ii, 9 : But ye are a chosen generation, etc. 

Subject. The True Election. 

I. Who are here addressed ? Genmne Christians, whom God 
has called, and who have come “out of darkness into his marvel¬ 
ous light.” 

II. What are their privileges ? They “ are a chosen genera¬ 
tion, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people.” 

III. For what purposes are such privileges given them ? That 
they “should.show forth the praises of him who hath called” 
them. 


TEXTUAL SYNTHETICAL. 


205 


TEXTUAL SYNTHETICAL. 

The foregoing are the most obvious and practical 
modes of dividing textuallj, hut a third mode may he 
designated as the synthetic. It results from a state¬ 
ment of the meaning or subject of different parts of 
the text in other words than those the text employs, 
and without reference to apparent analysis, yet hav¬ 
ing a real basis in the words of the text. The term 
synthetic may he vindicated as the opposite of ana¬ 
lytic. Strictly speaking, there can he no synthesis 
without a previous analysis. That here referred to 
is employed when the analysis is so easy or so ob¬ 
vious that formal questions are unnecessary. Follow¬ 
ing the synthesis, it is often well to quote the word or 
words on which it is based. 

EXAMPLES. 

Text. Hosea viii, 12: I have written to him the great things 
of my law, etc. 

Subject. The Scriptures. 

The text exhibits, 

I. Their author: God says, “ I have written.” 

11. Their subject: The great things of his law. 

III. Their reception: “ They were counted as a strange thing.” 

—Jay. 

It will he readily perceived that the above heads 
result from the implied questions, 1. Who wrote? 
2. What ? 3. How received ? 

Text. John vi, 68: Lord, to‘whom shall we go? Thou hast 
the words of eternal life. 

Subject. The Important Question. 

I. The being addressed: The “Lord” Jesus Christ. 

11. The object of the inquiry: “ Eternal life.” 

III. The mode of securing that object: “ Going to Christ,” etc. 


206 


EXAMPLES. 


Text. Ezek. xi, 19, 20: And I will give them one heart, etc. 

Subject. Genuine Religion is here developed in four particulars: 

I. Its author. 

II. The disposition it produces. 

III. The obedience it demands. 

IV. The blessedness it insures.— Jay. 

Remark. —In textual analytical or synthetical di¬ 
vision the preacher is at liberty to transpose the natu¬ 
ral arrangement whenever the logical order requires 
a different collocation of ideas. 

EXAMPLE. 

Text. Luke xxiii, 43: Verily I say unto thee. To-day shalt 
thou be with me in paradise. 

Subject. Christ's Promise to the Dying Penitent. 

I. Matter of the promise: To be “ with him in paradise.” 

II. To whom given: The thief on the cross. 

III. Time of realization: “To-day.? 

IV. Assurance of realization: “Verily I say unto thee,” etc. 

§2. Topical Divisions. 

There is an objection to the use of the term topical 
to designate a class of sermonal divisions on the 
ground of its association with the topics or loci com- 
7nunes of the old rhetoricians. This objection seems 
to have led some writers to adopt the compound 
terms text-divisions and subject-divisions., thus throw¬ 
ing out both the terms textual and topical. There 
are, however, many reasons for preferring to retain 
both as employed in the present chapter. But the 
use of the term topical must be understood to relate 
to the subject of discourse rather than to any formal 
list of topics. 

ISTevertheless, as the topics of the rhetoricians have 
Topics of rhet- been so long employed, not only in the 
orieians. three great branches of secular oratory, 


ARISTOTLE’S TOPICS. 207 

but also as aids in the composition of sermons, it may 
be well to explain both their uses and abuses. 

The term tojpic is derived from the Greek word 
roTTOf, a place. Its technical use in rhetoric arose 
from the idea of mapping out the whole field of argu¬ 
ment, and fixing the localities to which speakers might 
resort for thoughts and modes of address. Hence 
another Latin name for them, sedes arguinentorum. 

The topics, therefore, were aids to invention rather 
than to disposition. They were alike open to all 
speakers and to the opposite parties in any contro¬ 
versy. They were supposed to furnish or suggest 
material available for the treatment of every possible 
subject, although not equally adapted to all subjects. 

There was no positive agreement as to the number 
or order of the topics. Some writers divided them 
into two classes, internal and external. The internal 
topics arose from the bosom of the subject itself. 
External topics arose from any source without the 
subject, but applicable to it. 

Aristotle, without classification, enumerated twen¬ 
ty-eight topics as belonging to demonstrative, deliber- 
.ative, and judicial oratory. Claude, to aid in ‘‘the 
composition of a sermon,” employed twenty-seven, 
not very dissimilar to those of Aristotle, and which 
his commentators have continued to elaborate. Even 
as recent a writer as Gresley has stated sixteen, which 
for an example are condensed and copied, namely: 

1. Preliminaries, prejudices, etc. 2. Circumstances. 3. Man¬ 
ner. 4. Branches. 5. Objections. 6. Limitations. 7. Causes 
or reasons. 8. Bearings, tendencies, and effects. 9. Relations, 
inferences, and corollaries. 10. Connections. 11. Different 
views. 12. Chances of misunderstanding. 13. Chances of 
strengthening. 14. Contrasts and comparisons. 15. Persons to 
whom the subject applies. 16. Manner of deepening impressions. 


208 


TOPICAL DIVISION. 


The bare perusal of such a list shows how exceed¬ 
ingly artificial and cumbrous the system is, even in 
its modern garb. 

An abridged and practical scheme of topics has 
Condensed recently found considerable favor as a help 
seheme. study, and the examination of schol¬ 

ars in Sunday-schools. It embraces six. particulars 
for query and suggestion: 1. Persons; 2. Places; 
3. Dates ; 4. Doings; 5. Doctrines; 6. Duties. It is, 
perhaps, as available to preachers as Sunday-school 
teachers, although its frequent use would tend to an 
undesirable sameness in the construction of sermons. 

While it need not be denied that occasional ad¬ 
vantages might arise from acquaintance with an 
elaborated system of topics, it may be seriously ques¬ 
tioned whether preachers of the Gospel will not usu¬ 
ally be more injured than benefited by any attempt 
to think and speak in accordance with so artificial a 
plan. The description above given is designed as an 
introduction to a more excellent way. 

Let the reader understand that topical division, as 
now treated, is simply that in which the topic derived 
from a text is made the subject of division, without 
reference to the words of which the text is composed. 

ADVANTAGES OF TOPICAL DIVISION. 

Two leading considerations commend this style of 
division: 

1. It conduces to a large and agreeable variety in 
preaching. 

2. It tends to unity of discourse. 

Wherever in textual division there is danger of vio¬ 
lating essential unity by the introduction of numer¬ 
ous particulars, or the complication or displacement 
of coordinate ideas, or wherever the doctrine of a 


MODES OF TOPICAL DIVISION. 


209 


text may be more briefly or more strikingly set forth 
than in the language of the text itself, it is well to 
resort to topical division. 

Many texts may be treated with equal facility 
either textually or topically. Other texts Both kinds 
and portions of Scripture are more adapted practicable, 
to one style of division than the other. Preachers 
should qualify themselves by study and practice to 
discern quickly and clearly the adaptations and 
capacities of any texts that may come under their 
observation, and that in view of special objects. In 
studying a given text, it is sometimes well to experi¬ 
ment upon both modes of division, and then to select 
the one best adapted to his present design and to the 
free action of his thoughts. This can readily be done 
while disposing the outline of his sermon. 

For reasons heretofore given, it is essential that 
generalization precede any attempt at topical divi¬ 
sion. Without it there is no topic to be divided. 
Skill is also needed in stating generalizations, or 
reducing texts to propositions adapted to oratorical 
treatment. 

PRINCIPAL MODES. 

If a subject is to be treated topically there are 
various modes of procedure. A few will be enumer¬ 
ated, one or more of which will be found applicable 
to the majority of subjects. 

1. Analyze the topic by interrogation or otherwise. 

2. Exhibit the idea in its appropriate relations. 

3. Illustrate the facts or duties. 

4. Exhibit the motives. 

5. State the proofs. 

More briefly, topical: 1. By Analysis; 2. By Re¬ 
lations ; 3. By Illustration; 4. By Motives; 6. By 
Proofs. 


14 


210 


EXAMPLES. 


It is not taught that these five modes are all that 
may he fitly practiced in topical division. It is con¬ 
ceded that the possible variety of treatment in relig¬ 
ious discourse is infinite. Indeed, it needs to be so 
to suit the ever-changing circumstances of mankind, 
and the ever-varying capacities and mental consti¬ 
tutions of Christian ministers and their audiences. 
Hence, while on the one hand any stereotyped 
method of enunciating truth should be repudiated, 
on the other, the vagueness of a lack of system should 
be equally avoided. The object of the examples now 
to be given is, if possible, to mark out the golden 
mean between no system and all systems that are so 
multiform as to be impracticable. 


TOPICAL BY ANALYSIS. 

This style of division applies to a large class of 
themes: for example, the faithfulness of God; the 
excellence of truth; the efficacy of prayer. 


EXAMPLES. 

Text. Eom. v, 1: Therefore being justified by faith, etc. 
Subject. Jmtijication hy Faith. 

I. Its Nature. 

II. Its Grounds. 

III. Its Results. 

Text. Acts ii, 42; And they continued steadfastly in the 
apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and 
in prayers. 

Subject. Duties of Church Membership. 

I. To be well grounded in Christian doctrine. 

II. To be joined to our brethren in true fellowship. 

III. To partake regularly of the sacraments, 
ly. To lead a prayerful life, 
y. To continue steadfastly in all these duties. 


EXAMPLES. 


211 


TOPICAL BY RELATIONS. 

This form of division is applicable to conceded 
truths and uncontroverted principles. 

EXAMPLES. 

Text. Deut. iv, 35: Know that the Lord he is God; there 
is none else-beside him. 

Subject. God is Infinitely and Gloriously Perfect. 

Consider this great truth in respect to, 1. His eternity. 2. His 
omnipresence. 3. His omnipotence. 4. His wisdom. 

Text. 1 Peter i, 19; The precious blood of Christ. 

Subject. Christ's Blood is Precious. 

I. Comparatively. 

II. Intrinsically. 

III. Superlatively.— Pulpit Encyclopedia. 

TOPICAL BY ILLUSTRATION. 

This third form of topical division applies specially 
to facts and duties which are not denied, but which 
need to be more fully understood. 

EXAMPLES. 

Text. John xvii, 17: Thy word is truth. 

Subject. The Truthfulness of God's Word. 

Illustrated from, 

I. Human history. 

II. All established science. 

III. Its descriptions of character. 

IV. Its adaptation to the wants of men. 

Text. Exodus xx, 8: Kemember the Sabbath day, to keep it 
holy. 

Subject. The Sanctification of the Sabbath. 

This duty may be accomplished by, 

I. Abstaining from worldly labor. 

II. Public worship. 

III. Private devotions and sacred studies. 

IV. Self-denying labors in behalf of the souls of men. 


212 


EXAMPLES. 


Text. Lnke xiv, 7: He marked how they chose out the chief 
rooms. 

Subject. Ambition. 

I. Ambition is blind in its aims. 

II. It is presumptuous in its disposition. 

III. It is odious in its results.— Bouedaloue. 

Text. Matt, vii, 12: Whatsoever ye would that men, etc. 

Subject. The Golden Rule. 

This important precept of our Saviour may be complied with, 

I. By a due consideration of the wants and woes of our fellow- 
men. 

II. By cultivating a lively sympathy for the afflicted. 

III. By faithful endeavors to mitigate the sorrows of the dis¬ 
tressed. 


TOPICAL BY EXHIBITION OF MOTIVES. 

The rule to exhibit motives presupposes for its 
subject a duty which, though comprehended, is not 
performed with sufficient regularity or faithfulness. 
It needs therefore to be urged upon the people, as in 
fact do most religious duties. 

EXAMPLES. 

Text. Josh, xxiv, 15: Choose ye this day whom ye will serve. 
Subject. The Duty of Instant Choice to Serve God. 

This duty may be urged upon all, 

I, Because God enjoins it. 

II. Because our own interest demands the choice. 

III. Because there is infinite peril in delay. 

Text. Matt, vi, 14: For if ye forgive men their trespasses, 
your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 

Subject. The Duty of Forgiveness. 

Christianity clearly and emphatically enjoins this duty, and 
we may be urged to its practice by many motives. 

I. Because an unforgiving spirit is injurious to ourselves, 
n. It is unjust to our fellow-men. 

III. It is offensive to God. 

IV. Because Christ specially requires us to forgive injuries. 

V. Because he makes our forgiveness of others the condition 

of being forgiven ourselves. 


EXAMPLES. 


213 


TOPICAL BY PROOFS. 

The rule to state the proofs obviously applies to 
propositions in behalf of which argument is neces¬ 
sary. It is a rule of wide application, since it is not 
only proper for a preacher to convince the unbeliev¬ 
ing of the truth of Christianity, hut also to confirm 
believers by a frequent rehearsal of arguments in 
support of the important truths which they already 
receive and cherish. Besides, our congregations are 
mixed, and it is often necessary to state the proofs of, 
to us, old and familiar truths for the benefit of those 
to whom they are new. 

•While this mode of division harmonizes perfectly 
with propositional discussion, and is perhaps most 
frequently tributary to it, yet it does not essentially 
require a logical proposition as its basis. 

EXAMPLE. 

Text. Matt, vii, 13: Wide is the gate, and broad is the 
way, etc. 

Subject. The Danger of a Course of Sin. 

Proved from, 

I. The ease and attractiveness of its entrance. 

II. Its agreeableness, accommodated to every one’s inclina¬ 
tions. 

III. Its popularity. “Many go in thereat,” thus influencing 
each other. 

IV. Its certain issue in destruction. 

Should the question arise whether some one of the 
foregoing modes of division mud, be applied to every 
text or employed in every sermon, a negative answer 
may be emphatically given. The styles of division 
above exemplified are simply representa- 
tive, embracing indeed those most usually sentative. 


214 


DIVISION AND DISCUSSION. 


employed, but by no means all that might be found 
available. Before leaving topical division, it may be 
observed that two or more of the styles illustrated 
may sometimes be combined in the subdivisions of 
the principal heads. 


EXAMPLE. 

Text. Acts xvii, 30: But now commandeth all men every¬ 
where to repent. 

Subject. Repentance. 

I. The nature of repentance explained. 

I. Genuine sorrow for sin. 2. Evidenced by forsaking sin. 

II. The duty of repentance proved, 

1. From man’s sinfulness. 2. From God’s commands. 

III. The motives for repentance stated. 

1. Sin is destructive of happiness. 2. It is offensive to God. 
3. Without repentance true faith in Christ is impossible. 

EELATIONS BETWEEN DIVISION AND DISCUSSION. 

The leading varieties of division having now been 
illustrated, their proper relation as auxiliary to dis¬ 
cussion is obvious. Division should never be em¬ 
ployed for the mere sake or from the mere habit of 
division. It should not be rejected when it will 
secure greater clearness or unity to the discussion. 

The following are the more usual combinations 
between discussion and division; 

1. Explanatory discussion employs textual divi¬ 
sion in all its forms, and topical division by analysis. 

2. Observational discussion employs topical divi¬ 
sion by relations and by illustration. 

3. Propositional discussion employs topical division 
by the statement of proofs and the exhibition of mo¬ 
tives. 

4. Applicatory discussion combines readily with 
every form of division. 


THE USES OF DIVISION. 


215 


At this point the student will be prepared to form 
a correct judgment of the proper uses as well as the 
abuses of division in homiletics. 

THE USES OP DIVISION. 

1. Division is a branch and agency of disposition 
which also aids in completing the task of invention. 

It is specially advantageous, if not indispensable, in 
forming logical plans of discourse; for however some 
affect to discard the name, they are obliged to avail 
themselves of what the name represents, or produce 
that against which Paley admonished young preach¬ 
ers, “ a bewildered rhapsody without aim or effect, 
order or conclusion.” 

Facility in division enables the preacher to map 
out rapidly the region of thought he proposes to 
traverse, and to construct the whole framework of his 
argument before the labor of verbal composition is 
undertaken. By this means he can discover any 
weakness or lack of proportion, and readjust and im¬ 
prove at pleasure his plan of discourse without 
unnecessary labor or loss of time. 

2. Division, thus employed in advance, contributes 
greatly to the facility and correctness of composition, 
whether in writing or in speaking. 

3. It is specially important to the extemporaneous 
speaker, as giving him an easy grasp of his subject, 
and preventing him, when in the presence of an 
audience, from getting lost in a wilderness of words. 
Among the ancients memory was regarded as one of 
the essentials of oratory, and classed with invention, 
disposition, and elocution. “Yet,” says Cicero, “it 
is chiefly order that gives distinctness to memory;” 
and “ there is scarcely any one of so strong a memory 
as to retain the order of his language and thoughts 


216 


THE USES OF DIVISION. 


without a previous arrangement and observation of 
heads.” 

4. While the above considerations are urged in be¬ 
half of the speaker, it must not be overlooked .that 
the hearer may derive corresponding advantages 
from well-constructed ‘‘heads of discourse,” which 
Paley significantly calls “ helps to perspicuity.” 

IJnless an audience is enabled to perceive clearly 
the design of a speaker, and to comprehend his execu¬ 
tion of that design, its time is worse than wasted; 
its disgust is often excited. Speakers being familiar 
with subjects in advance, may easily delude them¬ 
selves with the supposition that they are understood, 
when their hearers gather no connected ideas from 
what they say. Well-expressed divisions tend to fix 
the attention of a hearer, and to assist his compre¬ 
hension of a discourse. They also, in the language 
of Blair, following the idea of Quintilian, “give 
him pauses and resting-places where he can reflect 
on what has been said, and look forward to what is 
to follow.” 

• 5. Division also aids the memory of hearers by 
giving them points of association, around which they 
can assemble in review thoughts which, in the ab¬ 
sence of such connections, would have vanished with 
their utterance. 

A sermon that is not worth remembering is not 
worth preaching; and one so constructed that it can¬ 
not be remembered, however it may please in the 
moment of delivery, must be very poor. 

N^otwithstanding these and other excellent uses of 
division, it is capable of being so misemployed or 
mismanaged as to become highly objectionable. 


THE STATEMENT OF DIVISIONS. 


217 


ABUSES OF DIVISION. 

1. The most common misuse of division in former 
days was too great minuteness. By this the progress 
ot discourse was checked, and attention directed to 
unimportant particulars. 

2. Corresponding to this was excessive enumera¬ 
tion, calculated to overburden the memory. This 
fault has been the foundation of a great part of the 
ridicule hitherto expended upon this subject. 

3. Inherent defects, such as, 

1. ) An oft-recurring and tedious sameness. 

2. ) A lack of unity, tending to one organic whole. 

3. ) A lack of symmetry. 

4. A diffuse statement of the plan forming an 
epitome of the discourse. This necessarily makes all 
that follows seem repetitious. 

THE STATEMENT OF DIVISIONS. 

The propriety of employing divisions in sermons 
has been warmly discussed since the days of Fenelon, 
who strenuously opposed them, although his chief 
objections are only valid against their abuses. 

Nearly every writer on the subject of preaching 
seems to have thought it necessary to Question at 
take sides either for or against divisions, 
overlooking the fact that their value may entirely 
change with a change of circumstances. Among 
those who in any proper sense appreciate disposition, 
the only proper question of debate is that relating to 
the enunciation of divisions. It does not follow, 
because divisions are important in the construction 
of a discourse, that in every case they should be stated, 
or at least formally announced. A scaffolding neces¬ 
sary to the erection of a house may be very much 


218 


MODES OF ANNOUNCEMENT. 


out of place if retained when the house is finished. 
So oftentimes in the preparation of a discourse the 
plan may he so thoroughly wrought into its struc¬ 
ture, and so obvious in its delivery, that any separate 
statement would be redundant. 

The question of stating divisions in a sermon must 
be determined purely on the ground of rhetorical 
propriety. Will the statement be advantageous to 
the design of a discourse ? If so, it is called for. If 
not, it should be omitted. Fortunately, the essential 
variety of both subjects and occasions conduces to 
a sufficient variety of practice in this respect. The 
Modes of state- remark applies equally to the man- 

ment. gf announcement. Moore describes 

three styles as comprehending the principal methods 
of introducing a subject. They are, “1. The elab¬ 
orate and partially-developed announcement; 2. The 
less artificial, but still divisional announcement; 
3. The fiowing, or slightly-indicated announcement.” 

This author’s treatment of the question now under 
consideration is so judicious as to deserve repro¬ 
duction : 

1. By the elaborate and highly artificial announcement, we 
mean one in which not only every division and subdivision 
must be advertised beforehand, but in which a largely-expanded 
syllabus of the intended course of thought is made to precede. 

2. The less artificial but still divisional form of announcement, 
under one or other of its modifications, is adopted almost uni¬ 
versally by the continental preachers, by the Nonconformists, 
aud by a large proportion of the preachers of the Church of 
England, especially in the delivery of unwritten sermons. By 
Vinet and Claude and Simeon it is assumed to be the normal 
type of homiletical composition, all departures from it being 
tolerated only as an exceptional variety. By some of the French 
divines there is added to the first announcement, and anteced¬ 
ently to the general discussion of the subject, a more extended 
outline. The danger in this method is, that the second stage of 


MODES OF ANNOUNCEMENT. 219 

development should encroach on the province of the third and 
give the appearance- of repetition. 

3. The last kind of announcement we have called the flowing, 
or slightly-indicated announcement. It is rarely adopted by 
extemporaneous preachers, but is to be found in the sermons of 
those who always read from a manuscript. 

An example of the last is given from Chalmers’s ser¬ 
mon on the Expulsive Power of a ITew Affection.” 
Mr. Moore further says: 

As a rule we strongly incline to some form of announced di¬ 
vision. It may be set forth either in a continuous sentence, or 
by the more strongly-marked numerical breaks, as the nature of 
the subject may require; but it should always be with sufiicient 
distinctness for the hearer to understand the general drift of the 
argument—what is the lesson to be enforcedj or what is the 
truth to be proved. 

In the case of the extemporaneous preacher especially, a well- 
staked out course of thought seems almost indispensable. Unpre¬ 
meditated forms of'illustration are sure to suggest themselves in 
the course of preaching which it were a very bondage not to 
yield to. Yet he must not suffer them to carry him too far away. 
And the taking up of one of his announced heads both facilitates 
and indicates his coming back. 

ISTevertheless, for the sake of perspicuity the reader 
of a sermon has even greater need of halting-places 
and guides for the comprehension of his hearers. 

• Moore closes his remarks on this question by hint¬ 
ing at two extremes to he avoided: 

The first is the danger of falling into a pedantic mannerism: 

■ of thinking ourselves obliged to accommodate every subject we 
take in hand to the same rigid external framework; so many 
chief heads first, and these duly waited on by a symmetrical 
train of satellites. The practice of some preachers of casting 
every text they preach from into a tripliform mould—with only 
such permutations as they can operate upon the statement, the 
doctrine, the inference; the instruction, the encouragement, the 
warning; the fact to be illustrated, the lesson to be. taught, the 


220 


EULES FOB GUIDANCE. 


principle to be applied—is found after a time to be very weari¬ 
some. 

But, secondly, in relation to modern practice, and as far as the 
written sermon is concerned, we incline to think our danger is 
from the other side; the danger,lest in our anxiety to keep clear 
of all formality and stiffness in our announcement of a subject,we 
should leave people in the dark as to what our subject is. This 
fault is fairly chargeable upon some of the great writers who 
have supplied us with examples of what we have called the 
flowing or faintly indicated announcement. Their indications 
nre often too faint to be observed. And in reading we some¬ 
times find ourselves half through the sermon before the quorsum 
tendit of the discourse strikes us—whither the preacher is going 
to take us, or to what propositions we are expected to assent. 

In addition to the above remarks, the following 
hints on this branch of the subject may prove practi¬ 
cally useful: 

RULES. 

1. On plain topics, where the minds of hearers can 
readily follow the course of thought, the announce¬ 
ment of divisions is superfluous. 

2. In treating upon abstract and difficult subjects 
it is essential to define our intended course, and often 
at least to erect landmarks to enable our hearers to 
know the progress they are making, and in due time 
to retrace their steps. 

3. Granting that in given cases announcement is 
called for, we must choose between the different kinds 
in view of the principle of rhetorical adaptation, hav¬ 
ing due reference also to that of variety. 

4. We should study to make our divisions tend to 
moral and spiritual ends as well as merely rhetorical 
results. 

That this is practicable appears from an example 
given in the life of that eminently useful Scotch min- 


A GOOD MOTTO. 


221 


ister, M’CIieyne. “ The heads of his sermons,” said 
a friend, “ were not the milestones that tell yon how 
near you are to your journey’s end, hut they were 
nails that fixed and fastened all he said. Divisions 
are often dry; but not so his divisions—they were so 
textual and so feeling, and they brought out the spirit 
of a passage so surprisingly.” 

M’Cheyne himself remarked to a friend: I used 
to despise Dr. Welsh’s rules, (for dividing sermons,) 
but now I feel that I must use them, for nothing is 
more needful for making a sermon memorable and 
impressive than a logical arrangement.” 

5. Finally, if we err at all in this matter of an¬ 
nouncing divisions it is better to err on the side of 
plainness and logical simplicity rather than on that 
of mazy indefiniteness. We had better make our 
points clearly and in a homely manner rather than 
make no points at all. 

But there is no need of violating good taste either 
on one side or the other. Let the aim be to produce 
a correct and powerful impression, dispensing with 
whatever will weaken and adopting whatever will ^ 
augment it. 

A good motto with respect to the various subjects 
treated in this chapter is, he guided hy ruks^ hut he 
not hound hy them. 


222 


ITS IMPORTANCE. 


CHAPTEE IX. 

THE CONCLUSION. 

ITS IMPORTANCE. 

From tlie days of the earliest rhetoricians to the 
present time the conclusion has been regarded as an 
important part of public discourse. As between dif¬ 
ferent authors and different kinds of public speaking, 
there has been less divergence of view as to what 
belongs to a conclusion than with reference to most 
other parts of an oration. It has-ever been deemed 
important that a discourse should end well—should 
leave upon the minds of its hearers a clear, agreeable, 
and powerful impression, an impression tending to 
a practical result. 

If this is important in secular oratory, it is still more 
Greatestofauin important in preaching the Gospel. Ad- 
preaching. dresses before deliberative bodies and ju¬ 
dicial tribunals are followed by immediate action. 
The members of a religious audience usually go their 
way, and long periods sometimes intervene before 
they are specially called to put in practice what they 
have heard in a sermon. Its impression, therefore, 
upon their memory and their convictions ought to be 
definite and lasting. 

A sermon without application is worthless. The 
conclusion is the proper place for application in every 
style of treatment except the applicatory itself. 
Where continued application has been maintained 
throughout a discourse, a formal or separate conclu¬ 
sion is less called for; nevertheless, in that case a re- 


DESIGN OF CONCLUSIONS. 


223 


capitulation may be appropriate, or the last applied 
argument in a series which, in view of its position, 
ought to be the most impressive, may itself become 
the conclusion. In cases of extreme brevity the last 
words of a discourse, whatever their form, are to be 
regarded as the conclusion. 

DESIGN. 

The proper design of a conclusion is to appropri¬ 
ately finish a discourse. The last impression pro¬ 
duced by a speaker is that likely to be longest 
remembered. If it be good it may do much to atone 
for preceding deficiencies, or it may heighten preced¬ 
ing excellences. On the other hand, a faulty conclu¬ 
sion may destroy the impression of the best exordium, 
and do much to neutralize the effect of the best argu¬ 
ment. 

The design of a conclusion embraces several dis¬ 
tinct ideas. 1. The avoidance of an abrupt termina¬ 
tion. A preacher should always seek to leave in the 
mind an impression of completeness, of his having 
finished the work he took in hand. Without this 
the contrary idea will present itself unpleasantly to 
the mind, suggesting failure and incompleteness in 
a manner very likely to prejudice the effect of the 
discourse. Sometimes, however, a sermon may bo 
terminated with a species of designed abruptness 
intended to stimulate thought and awaken feeling. 
This species of conclusion requires great skill and dis¬ 
cretion, but when well executed secures happy results, 
in harmony with the highest objects of preaching. 

2. Another design of a conclusion is to express 
thoughts which do not belong to any other part of 
the discourse. In the elaboration of a plan disposi¬ 
tion usually distributes to the conclusion pertinent 


224 


MATERIAL OF CONCLUSIONS. 


and important matter that has no place in either 
the exordium or the argument. When this is not 
the case, the preacher is at liberty to select matter 
that can be spared from the previous parts of a dis¬ 
course, and which he can more effectively employ in 
the conclusion. 

3. Summarily, it may be said that the design of a 
conclusion is to apply to the grand object of the dis¬ 
course whatever has been said in the foregoing parts, 
and to intensify its effect by an emphasis peculiar to 
itself. Whateiver design, therefore, the preacher 
cherished in the preparation and delivery of his dis¬ 
course should be palpable in the conclusion, and, if 
possible, should be thoroughly accomplished before 
its close. 

§ 1. The Matter appropriate to Conclusions. 

The matter or themes of the conclusion may appro¬ 
priately be various. 

1. Inferences. At the end of a logical argument 
one or more inferences from the points proved are 
strictly in order. This style of conclusion has at 
some periods been carried to excess, but now is com¬ 
paratively little practiced. Nevertheless, it is not to 
be entirely rejected either in explanatory or observa¬ 
tional discussion, although perhaps it has a closer 
affinity with propositional. 

2. Recapitndation is well adapted to explanatory, 
observational, and applicatory discussion. It enables 
the preacher, by rehearsing his leading thoughts in a 
summary form, to impress them upon the memory 
of his hearers, and to make them converge more 
powerfully upon the great object of persuasion. Ee- 
capitulation, when employed in conclusion, need not 
occupy the whole space. Indeed, it may often be 


APPKOPEIATE MATTER. 


225 


most fitly used as a species of transition, a connecting 
link between the argument and the ultimate or 
crowning impression. 

3. Ajppeal, including specific addresses to different 
classes and characters; for instance, to the aged and 
the young, parents and children, penitent and impen¬ 
itent, Christians, backsliders, etc. Great care must 
be taken to avoid sameness in the order or matter of 
appeal. 

4. Exhortation, Hortatory conclusions are fre¬ 
quently called for on nearly every class of subjects, 
and following every style of discussion. 

Exhortation may be either general or specific. It 
may relate to immediate or remote action. It may 
be applied to the sinner or the saint. It may avail 
itself of alternatives, of admonitions, of promises, 
and even of pertinent and impl*essive anecdotes. In 
short, the whole field of fact, of experience, and of 
Scripture is open to supply choice material for a con¬ 
cluding exhortation. 

RHETORICAL ADVICES. 

With this and the preceding topic, the student 
should associate in his mind the more valuable sug¬ 
gestions which rhetoricians have recorded with refer¬ 
ence to excitation and addresses to the feelings and 
the passions. They are summarily these: 

1. The audience must have been gradually pre¬ 
pared in advance for pathetic address. Appeals to 
the passions not founded on knowledge or conviction 
are worse than fruitless. They react against the 
speaker. Hence discussion should precede them, 
producing conceptions and judgments preparatory 
to those feelings and purposes which result in ac¬ 
tion. 


15 


226 


KHETOKICAL ADVICES. 


2. The speaker must avoid indicating his purp6se 
to move the feelings. “J^ever set apart a head of 
discourse in form for raising any passion ; never give 
warning that you are about to be pathetic, and call 
upon your hearers, as is sometimes done, to follow 
you in the attempt. This almost never fails to prove 
a refrigerant to passion. It puts the hearers imme¬ 
diately on their guard, and disposes them for criticis¬ 
ing much more than being moved.”* 

3. The speaker must himself be possessed of real 
feeling. His mind must so participate in the results 
of His own argumentation that at the appropriate 
moment his emotions rise and assume a leadership 
over the emotions of his congregation. “ There are 
a thousand interesting circumstances suggested by 
real passion which no art can imitate and no refine¬ 
ment can supply. There is a contagion among the 
passions. The internal emotion of the speaker adds 
a pathos to his words, his looks, his gestures, and his 
whole manner, which exerts a power almost irresisti¬ 
ble over those who hear him.”f 

4. Corresponding to this state of his own feelings, 
the speaker must employ only the appropriate 
thoughts and language of emotion. 

(1.) He should present particular rather than gen¬ 
eral views of his subject. Whole audiences are some¬ 
times moved to tears by statements of individual suf¬ 
ferings on a field of battle, when general statements 
of the most dreadful carnage awaken little or no 
emotion. 

(2.) The speaker should select only those points 
and features of the subject which are adapted to pro¬ 
duce the sentiments he desires to awaken. These 
will generally be those more prominent and strik- 

* Jamieson, following Blair. -f Ibid. 


DEVOTIONAL CONCLUSIONS. 227 

ing features whicli imply others of minor import¬ 
ance. ^ 

(3.) His language should be simple and unaffected, 
yet animated and glowing, calculated to stimulate 
the imagination of his hearers and to give it scope 
for action. 

5. Finally. “ Beware of straining passion too far, 
of attempting to raise it to unnatural heights. Pre¬ 
serve always a due regard to what the hearers will 
bear; and remember that he who stops not at the 
proper point, who attempts to carry them further in 
passion than they will follow him, destroys his whole 
design. By endeavoring to warm them too much 
he takes the most effectual method of freezing them 
completely.” * 

DEVOTIONAL EXPRESSIONS. 

As it is of great importance to maintain in a dis¬ 
course, when practicable, the principle of climax, 
preachers often find it well to use for their closing 
expressions some form of devotional utterance. The 
following is a classification of the principal forms of 
this style of conclusion: 

1. A striking passage of Scripture, It is sometimes 
highly fitting for the preacher to end as he began, 
with his text. But often other passages of the divine 
word occur to him as even more appropriate. For in¬ 
stance, a sermon on repentance might be concluded 
with Ezekiel’s thrilling appeal: “Turn ye, turn ye 
from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of 
Israel?” A sermon on the plan of salvation might 
emphatically and suggestively terminate in St. Paul’s 
exclamation : “ O the depth of the riches both of the 
wisdom and knowledge of God!” 

* Jamieson. 


228 EXAMPLES OF CONCLUSIONS. 

2. Prayer, A supplicatory expression may often 
be used at the closing sentence of a discourse. Well 
employed words of prayer at tbe crisis of a sermon 
not only give dignity to tlie subject, but seem to 
array it in all its force between tlie bearer and bis 
God. 

A prayerful utterance at tbe conclusion of a ser¬ 
mon often assumes tbe form of a benediction. Quota¬ 
tions of Scripture and benedictions are often mingled 
together, as in tbe following examples from Richard 
W atson. 

Watson’s sermon on “Tbe Coming of tbe King of 
Zion ” closes with these words: 

■ As the redeemed of the Lord, let us “ return and go to Zion 
with songs and everlasting joy upon our heads,” and then at 
last we “shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing 
shall forever flee away I” God grant us this grace, for Christ’s 
sake 1 Amen I 

That on “Tbe Knowledge of Christ” concludes 
thus: 

While millions of mankind are actually “perishing for lack 
of” this “knowledge,” let us incessantly pray that God would 
“send forth his light and truth,” and that his “way may be 
known upon earth, his saving health among all nations.” 

3. A doxology. This may be a direct quotation, 
or a paraphrase of some of the inspired ascriptions 
of praise to God. Of the latter a somewhat artifi¬ 
cial, but nevertheless striking example may be given 
from Bishop Heber’s sermon on “ The Existence of 
Spirits 

To Him, the seed of the woman and bruiser of the serpent’s 
head; to Him, from the inhabitants of every world and element, 
and snn and star; from all that dwell on the earth, above and 
under it, be ascribed as is most due, witli the Father and the 


ESSENTIAL CHAEACTERISTICS. 


229 


Holy 6host, all might and all honor, glory and dominion, now and 
forever.” 

A more harmonious and triumphant example is 
found in the conclusion of Dr. Mason’s celebrated 
sermon on “Messiah’s Throne:” 

The days, O brethren, roll rapidly on when the shout of the 
isles shall swell the thunder of the continent; when the Thames 
and the Danube, when the Tiber and the Rhine shall call upon 
the Euphrates, the Ganges, and the Nile, and the loud concert 
shall be joined by the Hudson, the Mississippi, and the Amazon, 
singing with one heart and one alleluiah, Salvation 1 the Lord 
God omnipotent reigneth! 

Comfort one another with this faith and with these words: 
“Now blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only 
doeth wondrous things. And blessed be his glorious Name 
forever. Let the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen 
and amen!” 

§ 2. Essential Characteristics of Conclusions. 

The foregoing precepts and examples will suffice 
to indicate the appropriate material of conclu¬ 
sions,^ and also to point out va/riety as a lead- 
ing principle which should govern in their structure. 
'No preacher should form the habit of closing his ser¬ 
mons in any uniform mode, for however impressive 
a given style may be, it will by iteration lose its 
effect. While this principle demands habitual varia¬ 
tion of mode, and sometimes may even dictate the 
seeming abruptness heretofore described, yet it will 
never authorize in a conclusion the use of new mat¬ 
ter, or that which is not appropriately connected with 
the main subject of discourse. 

Another important characteristic of conclusions 
should be brevity. Nothing can exceed the 
ill taste or the bad effect of long-drawn per- 
ambulatory conclusions. Yet excessive length is a 


230 


CLOSE WITH ENEEGY. 


common fault of the conclusions of extemporaneous 
preachers and writers; in fact, of all who do not 
govern themselves both in the preparation and deliv¬ 
ery of sermons by well-defined plans. ISTew thoughts 
occur to them, and they are hitched on to what has 
gone before. What is worse, sometimes the preacher 
becomes conscious that he has failed to accomplish 
the object of his discourse, or to awaken the degree 
of interest he ought to ha^e excited, and he struggles 
on in the vain endeavor to compensate the fault, 
until at last he is forced to terminate further from his 
object than when his conclusion began. Few things 
are more tiresome to hearer or preacher than the 
undue continuance or the endless circling about of 
an indefinite and protracted conclusion. 

Next to this in the catalogue of faults is dullness, 

or languor of delivery; indeed, any subsi- 

Avoid languor. ° ’ , . ’ 

dence ot oratorical power which enfeebles 
the final impression. The best remedy for these 
faults is to condense the foregoing parts of the dis¬ 
course into their appropriate time and space. For 
although the conclusion should be brief, it cannot 
with impunity be jostled out of the position due 
to it. It has its own office to fill, and the wise 
preacher will not allow it to be displaced or ren¬ 
dered nugatory. Neither will he continue his dis¬ 
course till his voice is weakened, or his strength is 
exhausted. He will aim to close with life and energy, 
even though his energy may appear somewhat sub¬ 
dued, as more tributary to solemnity and moral 
power. 

Power in a conclusion is not so much attained by 
startling words and loudness of voice as by a certain 
concentration of thought which brings the whole 
weight of the discourse to bear at a single point, and 


CLOSE WITH ENERGY. 


2S1 


tliiis results in a strong and lasting impression. How 
different is such a result from that of an indefinite¬ 
ness which loses sight of the main object at the very 
moment when that object should be made most pal¬ 
pable, and also of that feebleness which exhausts 
itself before the object is reached. 

To attain the highest excellence in executing the 
conclusion of a discourse is perhaps the most difficult 
as well as the most important task of an orator. But 
the elements of success are within the reach of every 
one. They are, a careful study of the proper design, 
the appropriate material, and the just limits of this 
branch of discourse; a close observation of the results 
of different modes in application to different subjects, 
and a persevering determination to attain excellence 
at whatever expense of effort. 


232 


essential qualities. 


CHAPTEE X. 

ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF THE SERMON AS A 
WHOLE. 

Having considered tlie entire work of disposition 
in its distribution of the materials of a sermon and in 
the structure of each principal part, it is now import¬ 
ant to ascertain what is necessary to a sermon as an 
organic whole. 

If hitherto we have been occupied to some degree 
with the anatomical framework, without which no 
organized body can exist, we are now to consider the 
Character and l^^^y as clothed in flesh and pervaded 
fitness. are to investigate its char¬ 

acter, and determine its fitness or unfitness for the 
work to which it is appointed. We are not merely 
to consider whether it has life, but whether “ the life 
is for the light of men.” 

In general terms it may be asserted that there are 
at least four qualities which ought to pervade every 
sermon as essential elements of its character. . 

Every sermon should be at once evangelical, inter¬ 
esting, instructive, and effective or powerful for good. 
Xeither of these qualities, except the last, necessarily 
implies the existence of the others. A sermon thor¬ 
oughly evangelical in sentiment may be dry, intricate, 
uninteresting, uninstructive, and powerless. 

Again, a sermon may be in many senses interest¬ 
ing, and yet wholly void of evangelical truth or spirit, 
equally uninstructive, and entirely inefficient for re¬ 
ligious good. 


EVANGELICAL CHAKACTEK. 


233 


Still again, a sermon may contain mnch instruction, 
and impart valuable knowledge on divers subjects, 
without being evangelical or Christian in any proper 
sense. 

The qualities of sermons necessarily depend both 
upon the choice of subjects and the manner of their 
treatment. It will be very difficult, if not impossible, 
to render any subject interesting in which the proper 
elements of interest do not inhere. It will be equally 
impracticable to be instructive on any topic which the 
speaker does not, at least in some of its aspects, un¬ 
derstand better than his audience. 

Effectiveness, in a Christian sense, demands all the 
preceding qualities in due combinations, and super¬ 
adds such an utterance of them as results in accom¬ 
plishing the spiritual ends whereunto the word of 
God is sent. These qualities severally deserve con¬ 
sideration. 

§1. Evangelical Character. 

An evangelical character must be regarded as 
strictly fundamental to all true preaching. This qual¬ 
ity involves the truth proclaimed and the spirit in 
which it is expressed. 

As to truth, evangelical preaching demands a full 
and frequent declaration of the peculiar doctrines of 
Christianity; such as the depravity of man, the di¬ 
vinity of Christ, the necessity and provisions of the 
atonement, the essentiality of repentance and conver¬ 
sion, justification by faith, arid sanctification by the 
Spirit. 

This quality of preaching also requires that all other 
truth when employed should be the subject of evan¬ 
gelical application. For that purpose the 
whole range of truth is at the disposal of applied. 


234 


EVANGELICAL SPIRIT. 


the Christian minister. He may with that end in 
view set forth the truths of natural religion, of Juda¬ 
ism, and even of philosophy, history, and science. 
To dwell on such truths principally, or to the exclu¬ 
sion of the foregoing class, would necessarily destroy 
or neutralize the evangelical character of preaching— 
would be to announce another Gospel. Still the 
truths comprehended under the various systems al¬ 
luded to are neither to be ignored nor slighted. They 
are indeed to be regarded as the necessary comple¬ 
ment of the Gospel system. But they are to he held 
as subordinate, and chiefly used for illustration. 

As to the spirit of preaching, there are modes of 
declaring even pure evangelical truth not in harmony 
with its design. Such, on the one hand, would be a 
harsh denunciatory manner; on the other a formal, 
careless, or trivial style. 

The spirit of the Gospel essentially requires love, 
meekness, earnestness, solemnity, and zeal to be 
blended together in the communication of the truths 
belonging to it, and by which it seeks to win the 
hearts of men. The spirit of evangelical preaching 
especially demands purity of motive and singleness of 
purpose to glorify God even at the expense of ora¬ 
torical ambition or worldly renown. 

In these respects it differs signally from every other 
Characteristic ^ind of public Speaking. Here is the 
difference. reason why Christian experience is essen¬ 
tially necessary to the right preaching of the Gospel, 
and why it is impossible for an unbeliever, however 
learned or ingenious, to be successful in the work, 
even though he were to make use of evangelical 
truth as his material. These considerations may also 
enable us to discover one great cause of the difierehce 
of success among preachers, and also the difference of 


CHARACTERISTIC DIFFERENCE. 


235 


success on the part of the same preacher at different 
periods of his life, and in accordance with different 
degrees of piety and different kinds of effort. 

As our Saviour said of casting out evil spirits, this 
kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting,” so in 
respect to the great work of preaching Christ and 
him crucified no man can successfully accomplish it 
if he have not “ the spirit of Christ.” 

“A man cannot,” said M’Cheyne, “be a faithful 
minister until he preaches Christ for Christ’s sake.” 
In a similar view Cecil remarked; “ God puts pecul¬ 
iar honor on the preaching of Christ crucified. Men 
may preach Christ ignorantly, blunderingly, absurdly; 
yet (if they know no better and do it in the right 
spirit) God will give it efficacy, because he is determ¬ 
ined to magnify his own ordinance.” 

On the other hand, vain is the highest intellectual 
effort, even of pious men, if it be misdirected, if it 
seek to lift men to heaven by any other mteiieetuaiism 
power than that of the cross. This fact ^sufficient, 
is strongly set forth in a sermon by Rev. Dr. Todd, of 
Pittsfield, on “The Tendencies of Intellectual Preach¬ 
ing.” The following extracts are in point: 

Mere exhortation will soon become vapid and powerless; and 
to bring men into a light merely intellectual, however strong, 
will leave the heart unreached. The Churches under such 
preaching might not know what ailed them, but they would 
feel that their wants are not met. The light of the Aurora 
Borealis may stream up and tremble and fill the heavens, pure 
as the flashes of joy or sorrow flitting over an angel’s face, but 
you grow cold while you gaze at it. 

There may be the most beautiful productions of the imagination, 
of the taste, and the creations of an earnest and lofty spirit, but 
the soul may starve while she seems to be feasting on the very 
confectionery of the intellect. The tree may seem as if reared 


236 


INTELLECTUALISM INSUFFICIENT. 


in the garden of the Lord; it may spread wide, and he loaded 
with a superabundance of foliage and flowers, fresh as ever- 
blooming exotics; but the fruits of the Spirit will not grow there¬ 
on. Honestly, faithfully the workman may task his powers to 
bring out what is new, bold, original, and great; but he mourns, 
and the people mourn, that the results are no greater than if he 
had a life-lease of what is felt to be the dreary domain of com¬ 
monplace. 

Is it not a melancholy fact that the pulpits that have been the 
most renowned for talents, that were brilliant and lofty, have 
been far. from being successful in proportion, the conversion of 
sinners and the spirituality of the Church being the standard ? 

We can conceive of a genius with power to take you to the 
rings of Saturn and turn them inside out, but that genius would 
not reach the heart. Talents elsewhere may produce results in 
proportion to their greatness, but not so here. The undue exalt¬ 
ation of the intellect is sure to be punished by at least an equal 
destitution of vital piety. 

We must remember that men are made up of intellect and of 
emotion, or heart; that the intellect predominates only in a very 
few with whom we have to do; that the great body of men are 
not intellectual; and it is an ordained law of God that his 
preached word shall reach the heart only when it comes through 
the heart, so as to be shaded and even colored by the heart. 
Eloquence may soar on a sublime wing on other subjects, and 
may carry men even to frenzy; but in the Gospel the eloquence 
of the heart only can come into communication with the heart, 
and this does and must and will. 

If these views are correct, with what fervency should 
every preacher offer tlie prayer: Create within me a 
clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within 
me!” 

The history of the Church during successive ages 
Demonstrations pi’oves that the progress of true religion 
of history. ipg world has ever depended upon the 

evangelical character of preaching as an essential 
agency. 

The preaching of the apostles was the Gospel itself, 


HISTOEICAL VIEW. 


237 


and glorious were tlie results. During tlie first and 
second centuries the example of the apostles was gen¬ 
erally followed, with similar results, notwithstanding 
widespread and bloody persecutions. 

In the third century allegorical and mystical meth¬ 
ods of treating religious doctrines, and even Scrip¬ 
ture facts, spread their baleful infiuence over the 
pulpit of centuries following. A little later, as the 
vitality of Christianity declined, preaching by some of 
the leading Fathers began to be modeled servilely 
after the precepts of the Grecian rhetoricians. Be¬ 
tween these two classes of errors preaching gradually 
lost its power, and finally, during the medieval ages, 
became for the greater part a ceremony, but some¬ 
times an instrumentality of evil. As a consequence 
the truth of God was obscured, and its light nearly 
withdrawn from the world. 

Pointed evangelical preaching was the prime 
source of power among the reformers, enabling them 
with the blessing of God to refute and banish from 
large portions of the Church the accumulated errors 
of centuries. 

So again in England, when not only the ministers 
of the so-called reformed Church, but even the Puri¬ 
tans themselves, fell into a style of preaching in which 
metaphysical and philosophic divinity predominated 
over the plain and pungent doctrines of evangelical 
truth, vital piety declined to such a degree that the 
Church lost confidence in the scriptural means of 
grace, and resorted in vain to “ moral societies ” as a 
means of checking the tide of public profligacy and 
corruption. It was in this emergency that God 
raised up Wesley, Whitefield, and their coadjutors, 
as flaming heralds of evangelical truth, under whose 
ministrations a glorious revival of pure and undefiled 


238 EVANGELICAL CHARACTEK ESSENTIAL. 


religion was caused to spread over both England and 
America. 

From that period to the present this principle has 
been illustrated. True religion has been revived and 
established wherever evangelical truth has been faith¬ 
fully preached bj a ministry who, having experienced 
its power, have also exemplified its excellence; while 
it has declined and the ways of Zion have mourned 
wherever this essential characteristic of Gospel 
preaching has been wanting. 

The evangelical character of preaching now com¬ 
mended will do much to redeem a sermon from other 
and serious defects. The truth itself has force, and 
Inherent power ^o also has the Spirit of love and meekness, 
oftruth. them be joined together, and although 

they may be to some degree depressed and neutral¬ 
ized by the counteracting effect of dull conceptions 
and feeble utterances, yet they will do good, and 
often accomplish glorious results unaided by more 
brilliant qualifications. 

Happily, we live at a period and in circumstances 
Demands of the in wliich evangelical truth is widelv an- 

present and fa- . ^ 

tore. predated. Ihe revivals, the missionary 

efforts, and the rapid progress of the truth during 
the last hundred years have proceeded as direct 
results from a style of preaching more generally 
evangelical than has been previously known since 
the earliest centuries of the Christian era. 

Although the present times are not without alarm¬ 
ing tendencies of departure from both the spirit and 
form of evangelical truth, yet there are powerful 
agencies at work to counteract those tendencies, and 
to make the Gospel more than ever the power of God 
unto salvation. 

May every reader of this volume be enabled to 


NECESSITY OF AWAKENING INTEREST. 239 


cast the weight of his life and influence into the 
scale of a pure evangelism, and thus hasten the day 
of the Gospel’s final triumph! 

§ 2. Interest. 

It is due to the excellence and intrinsic importance 
of evangelical truth that it be proclaimed in an in¬ 
teresting manner. Ho preacher has a right to mask 
the glorious Gospel in dry, vague, prosy, or enigmatic 
utterances; neither to caricature it with formality or 
bombast. 

Interest, as a quality of discourse, is an inherent 
power of engaging and holding the atten- 

. 11® . 1 Definition. 

tion 01 those to whom the language is ad¬ 
dressed. Its essential importance is seen in the fact 
that no mind can be profited unless its attention is 
both arrested and occupied. Memory is also depend¬ 
ent upon the fact and the degree of attention; while 
there is little hope of the heart being affected by any 
discourse in which the mind does not become deeply 
interested. 

NECESSITY OF AWAKENING INTEREST. 

The preacher must remember that in a large class 
of his hearers there is a native aversion to the Gos¬ 
pel which he preaches; an aversion strengthened by 
habits of sin and the pride of rebellious hearts. This 
aversion it is his duty and necessity, as far as possible, 
to overcome by awakening in their minds a lively 
interest in his subject. 

Petty surprises and startling paradoxes fall entirely 
beneath what is demanded for this object. Such 
artifices, however commended and practiced by some, 
are usually regarded by intelligent hearers as signals 
of mental weakness or poverty of resource, which 


240 


MEANS OF AWAKENING INTEREST. 


excite pity for the ‘speaker rather than interest in his 
subject. 

MEANS. 

It is doubtless impossible to reduce to a systematic 
form of statement all the elements .which may be 
made to contribute to the essential object of making 
Christian truth interesting. Much more is it im¬ 
possible to describe the infinitely diversified forms in 
which different minds will apply interesting phases 
of truth to the countless varieties of subjects and cir¬ 
cumstances. 

A few practical hints may nevertheless be found 
useful in guiding the efforts of young preachers to 
make their discourses interesting. 

BE INTERESTED YOURSELF, IP YOU WOULD INTEREST 
OTHERS. 

Shams avail nothing here. It is impossible to 
awaken the interested attention of auditors if the 
speaker is not interested himself. This is equally 
true of writing and of speaking. Hence the recipro¬ 
cal infiuence of composition and delivery. Ho elocu¬ 
tion can atone for the dullness or other grave defects 
of the matter it enunciates. In like manner the effect 
of the most perfect composition may be neutralized 
by a bad delivery. 

To accomplish the object now proposed, a' dis¬ 
course must not only contain interesting matter, but 
must set that matter forth in interesting combinations 
of thought and delivery. It requires no practiced 
ear to discern the difference between the mischievous 
cry of fire in the streets, and the sharp, true ring 
of fire ! MRE! as the words are uttered by one who 
sees and feels the danger of a confiagration. So the 


INTEEEST EVANESCENT. 


241 


preacher has no need to inform his hearers 

that he feels interested in his subject. If 

such be the fact they will either become aware of it, 

or, what is more important, will find a similar feeling 

awakened in their own bosoms. 

The principle here stated is incidentally instruct¬ 
ive in reference to various modes of pulpit prepara¬ 
tion. It shows emphatically the danger of relying 
upon old sermons and plans of discourse, as well as 
that of the too frequent repetition of sermons. There 
is something in the genesis of thought which not 
only causes the mind to glow with interest, but which 
kindles a similar glow in the minds of others. That 
glow having once expired in the speaker’s breast, it 
is difficult, if not impossible, to rekindle it. The 
“threadbare story,” or the “thrice-told tale,” may 
drag its length along; but no matter how well chosen 
the language, or how well adjusted the periods, no 
enthusiasm marks the utterance, and that which 
originally sparkled and vivified is now dull and stale. 

Whoever supposes that a stock of old sermons will 
avail him as well as new where they have not been 
heard, deceives himself. It is only when the preacher 
can, by special review, bring back to his own mind 
the original feeling of interest that he will succeed 
with the productions of the past. And if his mind 
be at all progressive this will be exceedingly difficult, 
unless he can blend new things with the old in such 
a manner as to increase the interest of both. 

As well might the man of middle years expect to 
recover his original interest in the trifies that amused 
his boyhood, as the preacher in advanced life to be 
thoroughly interested in the best compositions of his 
school-days or his incipient ministry. The themes 
may be equally interesting, but his comprehension of 
16 


242 


CLEAKNESS OF EXPRESSION. 


them and his capacity to illustrate them should have 
grown with his advance in years and increased with 
his constant practice. 

If these views are correct, it maybe safely remarked 
that no style of pulpit preparation, however elabo¬ 
rate, is sufficient to answer the highest ends of preach¬ 
ing for a great length of time. Hence the rule should 
be to make special preparation for every occasion of 
preaching, at least to an extent that will thoroughly 
enlist the thoughts and interested feelings of the 
preacher. Only thus will he be in a position to 
interest others. 

Some preachers when they have prepared a choice 
sermon count it as a substantial addition to their 
Interest pro- stock in trade, to be carefully hoarded for 
gressive. future use. Hot so the great preachers 
of the day, who, having confidence in their own pow¬ 
ers to produce as good sermons in the future as they 
have done in the past, and indeed better than any of 
their past productions would be in the future, do not 
hesitate to give their sermons promptly to the press. 

Thus they put themselves under the necessity of 
constant and increasing mental activity, and the re¬ 
sult is that they acquire additional strength with 
increasing effort. Other preachers may safely imitate 
their habits in this respect; remembering that though 
novelty is not an essential element of interest, fresh¬ 
ness is. 

CULTIVATE CLEARNESS AND VIVIDNESS OF EXPRESSION. 

Without pausing now to consider in detail the 
qualities of style adapted to pulpit address, it may be 
asserted that the perspicuous utterance of definite 
thoughts is essential to an awakening of interest in 
th^ minds of others. Hence misty conceptions, in- 


FEEQUENCY OF ILLUSTKATION. 243 

volved sentences, ill-chosen words, and whatever else 
might tend to befog or bewilder the mind of the hearer, 
should be carefully avoided as barriers in the way of 
exciting a true interest in any subject. 

It is difficult to say which audiences most dislike, 
prosy and lifeless sermons, or those pretentious dis¬ 
courses which are above their comprehension or aside 
from it. It is impossible for them to be interested 
in either class. Hence preachers must know what 
language is comprehensible to their hearers, and 
learn to wield it with directness and power. 

Guthrie, the great preacher of the Free Scotch 
Church, illustrates this subject at the same time that 
he indicates his view of its importance. Witness the 
following brief extract from the introduction to his 
sermon on ‘‘Neglected Warnings 

Fire low, the order which generals have often given to their 
men before fighting began, suits the pulpit not less than the 
battle-field. The mistake, common to both soldiers and speakers, 
is to shoot too high, over people’s heads; missing by a want of 
directness and plainness both the persons they preach to and the 
purpose they preach for. 

No audience would mistake the meaning of such 
language, or fail to perceive clearly the object the 
preacher had in view. 

ACQUIRE FELICITY AND PRACTICE FREQUENCY OF ILLUS¬ 
TRATION. 

The example of the great preacher is authoritative 
on this point. Comparatively few people are capa¬ 
ble of following long trains of abstract reasoning, 
or of comprehending condensed or protracted state¬ 
ments of profound moral and religious truth. Hence 
the preacher must come down to the point of view 


244 


THE ANALOGICAL POWEK. 


occupied by the masses of men, take them by the 
hand and lead them by easy steps to the higher 
ground of enlarged conception. In such endeavors 
nothing serves more efficiently than well chosen and 
familiar illustrations. 

Materials of illustration lie thick before the preacher 
throughout the great worlds, 1. Of nature. 2. Of 
history, sacred and profane. 3. Of experience and 
observation. With all these he should make himself 
familiar for the express purpose of gathering from 
them whatever fact or resemblance may be turned to 
the high account of aiding men to relish and compre¬ 
hend religious truth. 

Some men possess by nature a special talent for 
comparison, which inclines them” to the excessive use 
of figurative language. With them the task is to 
restrain and chasten their fondness for analogy. 
Should be cuiti- Others, and by far the greater number, 
vated. need to cultivate systematically and assid¬ 

uously the power of perceiving and stating analogies. 
But as preachers of the Gospel none should content 
themselves without introducing into their discourses, 
in greater or less abundance, what an old minister 
called the likes / meaning those resemblances or fig¬ 
urative illustrations by which, if well managed, audi¬ 
ences never fail to be interested. 

The frequent use of familiar and striking illustra¬ 
tions constituted one of the principal charms of the 
preaching of Chrysostom, and there is no one trait 
more common to the most popular preachers of the 
present day. Those who have heard or read the 
sermons of Guthrie, Spurgeon, Beecher, and Simp¬ 
son will recognize the correctness of this statement. 

Let none be discouraged by supposing that the 
talent of illustration is extremely difficult to be 


ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS. 


245 


acquired. Any one who will sit down with a little 
child, or a class of children, and apply himself to the 
task of entertaining and instructing them for half an 
hour will find himself instinctively resorting to com¬ 
parisons, narratives, and the kindred means of illus¬ 
tration, which have only to be adapted to children of a 
larger growth to answer the very end now proposed. 
If he desires higher and better examples he has 
only to open his Bible and observe how the great 
Teacher, and nearly all the inspired writers, employ 
the various objects of nature, and the events of life 
and of providence, to elucidate and embellish religious 
truth. 

Whoever is deeply convinced of the importance of 
appropriate illustrations as an element of interest in 
a religious discourse, should study carefully and prac¬ 
tically the laws of figurative language as defined by 
the best rhetoricians. By means of this study three 
important things are to be learned: 

1. What belongs appropriately to the several rec¬ 
ognized forms of figure. 2. How to avoid the serious 
fault of mixed metaphor. 3. What forms of figure 
are most appropriate either for instruction or im¬ 
pression. 

The latter class, such as apostrophe, interrogation, 
hyperbole, vision, climax, etc., although often em¬ 
ployed to arouse and fix attention, are more properly 
embraced in the department of style. 

1. The figures most available for purposes of in¬ 
struction are simile and metaphor, the one being a 
direct and formal comparison, the other an informal 
and abbreviated comparison. These figures not only 
excite the attention of hearers, but occupy their 
thoughts, and thus add permanent interest to a dis¬ 
course. 


246 


EXAMPLES. 


A few examples are subjoined from Guthrie’s small 
volume of sermons entitled Speaking to the Heart.” 

SIMILES. 

It is a dreadful thing to see the happiness of a human being, 
like a brittle vase, shattered at a blow, the fair fabric collapse in 
an instant into a heap of ruins. 

Among the rudest pagans death never quenched the hope of 
immortality. That hope rose over the grave, shining to weeping 
eyes like the evening star above the place where the sun had 
gone down. 

Flowing through the earth like streams amid desert-sands; 
shining in life’s darkest nights like stars in a wintry sky; throw¬ 
ing a bright bow over every cloud of fortune; to love more than 
to anything else this world owes what blessedness it enjoys. 

A fruit-tree in early summer, covered with a sheet of flowers, 
topped by a thrush that jjours forth a flood of song, standing on 
a sward enameled with flowers, and under calm blue skies that 
ring with music, offers a striking contrast to the same tree as 
it appears in autumn, with the ground around it strewed with 
withered leaves, and only a few fruits of all those rich blossoms 
hanging on its naked branches. Still greater the contrast be¬ 
tween this world as it presents itself to the eyes of youth and 
as it appears to those of age. How rarely are its expectations of 
happiness fulfilled! Of its blossoms how few ever ripen into 
fruit. 

SIMILE AND METAPHOR. 

Our Lord found many a topic of discourse in the scenes 
around him ; even the humblest objects shone in his hands, as I 
have seen a fragment of broken glass or earthen ware, as it 
caught the sunbeam, light up, flashing like a diamond. 

With the stone of Jacob’s well for a pulpit and its water for a 
text, he preached salvation to the Samaritan woman. A little 
child, which he takes from his mother’s side and holds up blush¬ 
ing in his arms before the astonished audience, is his text for a 
sermon on humility. 


ILLUSTRATIONS FROM EXAMPLE. 


247 


METAPHOR. 

It is by an altar and through a victim that there is forgiveness 
with God; pardon flows to men in a stream of blood. But here 
the altar is a cross, and its victim is the Son of the Highest. 

2. Next to the formal tropes exemplified, illustra¬ 
tions from analogy add interest to discourse. 

Of these there are two classes: 1. Analogies of fact, 
such as the phenomena of nature and historical ex¬ 
amples. 2. Hypothetical analogies, based upon fancy 
or supposition. 

Did space allow, most interesting and instructive 
examples of the first class might be adduced from the 
best authors. It must suffice, however, to present a 
brief description of the habits of a preacher who ex¬ 
celled in historical illustration. 

A writer* in “Sprague’s Memorials” says of Dr. 
Porter, of Andover: 

I have often gone from his preaching with my heart wrung, 
literally wrung by the grasp he had laid upon it, and it was 
some time before the blood flowed freely in its channels. For 
making this impression he possessed two qualifications, the first 
of which I think especially demands attention, because it is val¬ 
uable and because it can be acquired. 

It was the habit of illustrating and enforcing his doctrine by 
examples, chiefly by grave historical or biographical anecdotes. 
He seemed to me to have read history and biography with this 
view—to have read them as a preacher—to have read them as 
I imagine Cicero would have recommended, who would have the 
orator know everything, but subordinate all knowledge to his 
life-task as orator. 

I think Dr. Porter must have had a commonplace-book for the 
record and classification of facts and anecdotes drawn from his 
whole reading. Out of his treasury, wherever it was, he was al¬ 
ways bringing some pertinent illustrations; some words from Bax¬ 
ter or Milton, uttered in appropriate circumstances; some incident 
* Dr. Orville Dewey. 


248 


HYPOTHESIS. 


from the life of Boerhaave or of Oberlin, or some grand historical 
anecdote which fell upon the point to which it was applied with 
astonishing force. It carried irresistible conviction ; it drove the 
nail to the quick. It was light and power; it was lightning that 
rent the hardest obstruction in its way. 

The other qualification was strong religious emotion. 

Corresponding to tliis conjecture the biographer of 
Dr. Porter says: 

He read and thought as a preacher, and all his intellectual ex¬ 
ercises had reference to this one grand business of his life. He 
was accustomed in his general reading to keep memoranda of in¬ 
teresting facts in a blank hook always at hand for the purpose, 
with the view of increasing the richness and instructiveness of 
his sermons. 

He once himself remarked that 
If there was anything attractive in his sermons it was chiefly 
owing, in his view, to the variety and appropriateness of illustra¬ 
tion, which by this process he had acquired the ability to employ. 

Hypothetical analogies, in the absence of facts ex¬ 
actly adapted to meet particular circumstances, may 
be readily constructed by suppositions of the preach 
er’s own mind. 

The following is an example from Dr. Payson: 

Suppose you wished to separate a quantity of brass and steel 
fllings mixed together in one vesssel, how would you effect this 
separation ? Apply a loadstone and immediately every particle 
of iron will attach itself to it, while the brass fllings remain be¬ 
hind. 

Thus, if we see a company of true and false professors of relig¬ 
ion we may not be able to distinguish between them ; hut let 
Christ come among them and all his sincere followers will he at¬ 
tracted toward him, as the steel is drawn to the magnet, while 
those who have none of his spirit will remain at a distance. 

Peadiness, and skill in framing pertinent hypoth¬ 
eses, often prove of great service to preachers and 
pastors. Suppositions were a favorite instrument- 


SCEIPTURAL AND HISTORICAL ALLUSIONS. 249 

ality of Pay son for awakening an interest in religions 
truth, and for impressing it indelibly upon the mem¬ 
ory of those who heard him. He employed them 
freely in sermons, in conversation, and in the instruc¬ 
tion of his Bible class. 

To the members of his Bible class the following 
was addressed: 

Suppose a man builds a temple, with one seat in it very high 
and much ornamented, and another very far below it. You ask 
him for whom those seats are designed, and he replies: “Why 
the most elevated one is for me, and the one below it is for God.” 
Now in this case you can all see the horrible absurdity and im¬ 
piety of such conduct, and yet each of you who continues impeni¬ 
tent is doing this. You have given yourselves the first place in 
your affections, you have thought more of yourselves than of God, 
and have done more to please yourselves than to please God; in 
short, you have in everything preferred yourselves before him. 

3. Appropriate scriptural and historical allusions 
add much to the interest of religious discourse. 

Well chosen classical allusions have always been 
thought to lend a charm to modern literature. So 
in preaching, a peculiar charm arises from those 
scriptural allusions which illustrate present subjects 
by suggesting vivid ideas of past scenes or events. 
By such allusions Scripture history is kept familiarly 
before the minds of the people, and the endless appli¬ 
cations of God’s word are made manifest to all hearts. 

The habit of employing Scripture allusions with 
taste and effect is one that with most persons needs 
to be diligently cultivated, while all should carefully 
guard against applying them to low or trifling themes 
so as in any degree to degrade the word of God. 

Purely historical allusions should be introduced 
with caution into sermons, lest they be too secular 
for the Sabbath, or not understood by the hearers. 
But a just combination of the historical and biblical. 


250 


EXAMPLES. 


in other words, pertinent allusions to Scripture his¬ 
tory, constitute a high excellence, and add much to 
the intrinsic interest of any sermon. 

The subjoined examples will represent to some 
extent the peculiar styles of their several authors: 

In that day the idle pretensions of enthusiasts shall no more 
influence believers to reject the Holy Spii*it than the vain pre¬ 
tensions of those false Christs who formerly appeared among the 
Jews could influence the faithful to reject their only Lord and 
Saviour. The dispensation of the Spirit shall then appear as- 
glorious to the eyes of admiring Christians as the dispensation 
of the Son once appeared to ravished Simeon; and every apos¬ 
tolic pastor shall conduct his flock from the dispensation of the 
Father through that of the Son to that of the Holy Spirit, in as 
rapid a manner as St. Peter is reported to have done in his first 
discourse.— Fletcher: Portrait of St. PauV 

Our Lord supplied proofs of his divinity in his works of 
power. He was full of healing virtue, so that even to touch the 
liem of his garment was sufficient to remove diseases otherwise 
incurable. The “come forth” which awakened Lazarus was 
but a softened accent of the voice, which, rolling through the 
caverns of the earth, shall awaken all the dead. But the apostles 
saw his concealed glory in his transfiguration, when “ the fashion 
of his countenance was altered“ his face did shine as the sun, 
and his raiment was light and glistening;” “white as snow, so 
as no fuller on earth can white them.” 

They saw his glory in his resurrection, for he rose having 
“life in himself;” and in his ascension to heaven, when “ a cloud 
received him out of their sight.”— Richard Watson: Sermon 
on the '•'‘Incarnation of the Eternal Word.'''' 

Prayer can bring an instant Saviour near, and this where¬ 
soever you are. It needs not that you ascend some special Pis- 
gah or Moriah. It needs not that you should enter some awful 
shrine, or put ofl^* your shoes on some holy ground. 

Could a memento be reared on every spot from which an 
acceptable prayer has passed away, and on which a prompt 
answer has come, we should find Jehomh-shamma\ “ the Lord 
hatli been here,” inscribed on many a cottage hearth and many a 


EXAMPLES. 


251 


dungeon floor. We should And it not only in Jerusalem’s proud 
temple and David’s cedar-galleries, but in the fisherman’s cot¬ 
tage by the brink of Gennesaret, and in the upper chamber where 
Pentecost began. 

And whether it be the field where Isaac went to meditate, or 
the rocky knoll where Jacob lay down to sleep, or the brook 
where Israel wrestled, or the den where Daniel gazed on the 
hungry lions and the lions gazed on him, or on the hill-sides 
where the Man of sorrows prayed all night, we should still dis¬ 
cern the prints of the ladder’s feet let down from heaven—the 
landing-place of mercies, because the starting-point of prayers.— 
James Hamilton: Fourth Lecture on the ''''Mount of Olires.^'' 

So it is everywhere with nature! The Pharaohs sleep in their 
stony sepulchers, and Moses in his lone mountain-grave; but 
the Nile rolls on as in the day when the Hebrew mother com¬ 
mitted her child to its waters and to the providence of her God, 

David’s harp is broken, and his skillful hand is dust; but the 
snows of Salmon shine as white as when he sang their praises. 
Kedron runs murmuring through the valley of Jehoshaphat as 
on the night our Saviour waded it to enter on his agony in the 
garden. Capernaum, Chorazin, Bethsaida! the jdace that once 
knew them knows them now no more; but the mountains of 
Galilee stand around her lake as they presented themselves to 
Jesus’s eye. —Thomas Guthrie : Sermon on “ The Undecaying 
Power and Grace of GodP 

Owing to variety in taste, different preachers will 
select different fields as most attractive for analogical 
research. Yet it is not usually best for any one to 
confine himself to a favorite topic, or branch of 
topics, lest his illustrations be characterized by too 
great sameness. Yariety is as essential here as in 
any part of the preacher’s work. 

The following general rules will lead to a safe and 
useful practice in reference to this means of adding 
interest to religious discourse: 

1. Whoever would acquire the power of felicitous 
illustration must not only learn what kind of illustra- 


252 


KULES. 


tions to employ, but must be constantly on tbe alert 
for material. He should cultivate the habit of close 
observation upon the characters and actions of men 
and the phenomena of nature. He should read 
much, and especially historical works, with the same 
object in view. 

2. He should actively employ his inventive powers 
to perceive and institute analogies between abstract 
truth and facts of every kind. 

3. He should feel at liberty to appropriate and 
adapt for pulpit use the most striking facts and 
analogies he can gather from all sources, whether 
from nature, books, newspapers, or his own ex¬ 
perience. 

4. He should not copy from others, at least with¬ 
out giving due credit, but should construct his own 
illustrations in accordance with the laws of taste. 

5. He should avoid carrying his analogies too far, 
rarely attempting to illustrate more than a single 
point at once. He should content himself with brief 
and vivid indications of his ideas, adapted to stimu¬ 
late rather than weary the minds of his hearers, and 
to become accessory to his main design rather than 
to assume primary importance. 

Never lose sight Illustrations too elaborately drawn or 

of the principal « t i i 

object. 01 disproportionate length violate the 

rule last given, and become hinderances to the prog¬ 
ress of an oration. 

The story of the Spanish painter of the Lord’s sup¬ 
per illustrates the tendency of this error: 

It was his object to throw all the sublimity of his art into the 
figure and countenance of the Saviour; but on the table, in the 
foreground of the picture, he painted some chaste cups, so exceed¬ 
ingly beautiful and so skillfully painted that the attention of all 
who called to see the picture was at once attracted to the cups, 


INSTEUCTION. 


253 


and every one was loud in their praise. The painter observing 
this, saw that he had failed in his design of directing attention 
to the principal object in the picture, and exclaiming, “I have 
made a mistake, for these cups divert the eyes of the spectator 
from the Master,” he immediately seized his brush and dashed 
them from the canvas. 

So we should dash from our sermons every illus¬ 
tration and ornament which would divert attention 
from the main design rather than become auxiliary 
to it. 


§3. Instkuction. 

Whatever interest may he awakened in a religious 
subject should be made tributary to instruction. No 
preaching can he permanently useful which does not 
impart knowledge. 

Knowledge indeed is the foundation of all true 
religious experience and practice. The great fault 
of sinners is that they know not God.” 

“ Moreover, because the Preacher was wise, he still 
taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good 
heed, and sought out, and set in order many prov¬ 
erbs.” Eccles. xii, 9. 

This was the example and the rule of Solomon. 
But a greater than Solomon has taught that a pri¬ 
mary design of the Christian ministry is the instruc¬ 
tion of mankind. 

Go TEACH all nations,” is the great command of 
the Saviour. 

1. In order to a right compliance with this com¬ 
mand, ministers of the Gospel should at all times be 
learners. They should constantly collect instructive 
facts for sermons from all accessible sources. 

Auxiliary to the design of being public teachers, 
habits of classification and well-planned common- 


254 


ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS. 


place-books will prove serviceable in enabling them 
to nse at short notice whatever they have read or 
observed or otherwise learned. 

2. Ministers should form systematic and compre¬ 
hensive plans for the instruction of their congrega¬ 
tions, and should steadily persevere in carrying them 
on to completion. 

A pastor should endeavor to give in every congre¬ 
gation a sufficiently thorough course of instruction 
for the religious education and the complete salva¬ 
tion of the people, whatever advantages they may 
enjoy or lack after he shall have passed away. In 
this manner only can he discharge his individual re¬ 
sponsibilities. 

One sermon in a systematic course each Sabbath 
will usually be sufficient, and on this plan there will 
always be opportunity for introducing the special 
subjects suggested by passing events. Every sermon, 
however, whether systematic or occasional, should be 
instructive as well as evangelical and interesting. 

Knowledge is the food of the soul. “That the 
soul be without knowledge, it is not good.” Prov. 
xix, 2. By its communication the Church and the 
individual Christian are nourished into an ample 
spiritual growth; without it they are dwarfed and 
weakened, however much excited or stimulated by 
false appliances, although in the highest degree 
specious or entertaining. 

“ Feed my sheep ” is the reiterated command of 
Christ, and one to which the faithful shepherd will 
give good heed, seeking to lead out his flock into all 
the green pastures of truth. In order to furnish them 
ample sustenance and nourishment he will need to 
sow beside all waters and to dig diligently about the 
tree of knowledge that he may secure abundant fruit. 


OBJECTS OF PEEACHING. 


255 


His sermons must be rioh in thought and in facts, 
and the people can hardly fail to become both inter¬ 
ested and wise as a result of hearing them. 

§4. Efficiency. 

The Gospel has an object. Its publication is not a 
ceremony. The real test of preaching, 
therefore, as to its highest excellence, ^ 
must be its adaptation to accomplish its great ends, 
some of which deserve to be specially considered in 
this connection. 


OBJECTS OF PREACHING. 

1. The diffusion of truth and the consequent over¬ 
throw of error. 

For this object the Christian minister should be 
ever anxious and active. And while he should be 
untiring in his efforts to inculcate positive truth in 
all its most important phases, he should also be on 
the alert watching against the developments and in¬ 
fluences of error whether new or old, whether spo¬ 
radic or systematic. 

While it is undesirable to occupy the pulpit largely 
with controversy, yet it must not be forgotten that 
the pulpit has a most important work to accomplish 
in forming and correcting individual and public opin¬ 
ion on all subjects relating to “life and godliness.” 
Especially on all moral and religious questions it 
should utter clear, correct, and convincing speech. 

2. The conversion of souls. 

In this great and peculiar result of Christian preach¬ 
ing the most ardent hopes and the most zealous 
labors of the true minister fitly culminate, and in any¬ 
thing short of this he should not long be satisfied to 
rest. True, it is God alone that giveth the increase; 


256 


ESSENTIAL ENDS. 


yet, as we know God’s willingness to crown his own 
word with his blessing, we must labor diligently and 
hopefully to produce such sermons as will be owned 
of him for the salvation of souls. 

3. The practice of righteousness. 

Under this head preaching may be said to aim at 
universal morality and godliness, teaching and en¬ 
forcing the duties of men, women, and children in 
every possible circumstance of humanity. 

Not only does it inculcate the principles and pre¬ 
cepts of the whole law of God, but it entreats and 
persuades men to their observance by all the highest 
motives that can address the human mind. 

4. The establishment and upbuilding of the Church 
of Christ. 

The Christian Church is the great conservatory of 
the truth and ordinances of God. It is the appointed 
agent of the world’s evangelization. It is the peculiar 
object of the Saviour’s love and sacrifice. “ Christ 
also loved the Church, and gave himself for it; that he 
might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of wa¬ 
ter hy the word^ that he might present it to himself a 
glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any 
such thing; but that it should be holy and without 
blemish.” Eph. v, 25-27. 

The interests of the Church must therefore be dear 
to every faithful minister of the Lord Jesus, and to 
promote its purity and progress he must preach as 
well as pray without ceasing. 

Here, then, is the final test to which our best pul¬ 
pit efforts must be brought. Whatever minor ex¬ 
cellencies it may combine, no preaching is truly good, 
is worthy of its name and design, which does not 
accomplish some or all of the foregoing objects. If a 
sermon be weighed in the balance of efficiency and 


GOOD MOTTOES. 257 

found wanting it is poor indeed, however it may- 
challenge the world’s applause. 

How trifling a matter is the mere entertainment or 
the ceremonial occupation of men com- practice of 
pared with that influence upon their lives 
which enables them to adorn the doctrine of God 
their Saviour in all things, and upon their hearts, 
which prepares them for the judgment seat of Christ. 
To such ends as these the preacher must aim in every 
sermon, and be content with no rhetoric or logic, no 
imagery or pathos, which falls short of this result. 
“ With me,” said Dr. Adam Clarke, “ this is a maxim : 
The sermon that does good is a good sermon.” “ I 
would rather beg my bread,” said M’Cheyne, “ than 
preach without success.” 

These are mottoes worthy of being remembered by 
every minister. 

What have been described as the preceding essen¬ 
tial qualities are chiefly valuable as preparing the 
way for efficiency as an ultimate and crowning ex¬ 
cellence. As a general rule efficiency may be said to 
result from a due combination of those other good 
qualities which minister to it, and from which it is 
rarely separated. Yet it has antagonisms and ele¬ 
ments of its own. Efficiency in preaching is strictly 
incompatible with vagueness of conception and con¬ 
sequently of speech. It cannot coexist with insincer¬ 
ity of purpose, with imperfect religious experience, 
or with a vain and worldly ambition. 

On the other hand, efficiency as a quality of relig¬ 
ious discourse is specially promoted by a 
strong desire to be useful, by an unwaver- ter. 
ing faith in God’s word, and an inflexible but sancti¬ 
fied determination to accomplish the objects of preach¬ 
ing through the divine aid and blessing. 

17 


258 


ELEMENTS OF EFFICIENCY. 


It is not to be doubted that many a well-meant and 
otherwise good sermon has been wholly inefficient for 
lack of that energy of purpose which is necessary to 
impress other minds. 

ELEMENTS OF EFFICIENCY. 

1. Earnestness must be claimed as an essential ele¬ 
ment of efficiency. The nature and power of earnest¬ 
ness have been so eloquently set forth by John Angell 
James in his work on an “Earnest Ministry the 
Want of the Times,” that the following paragraphs 
are quoted as specially pertinent in this connection : 

There is something in the aspect and power of earnestness, 
whatever be its object, that is impressive and commanding. To 
see a man selecting some one object of pursuit, and then yielding 
up his soul to the desire of its attainment, with a surrender 
which admits of no reserve, a steadiness of aim which allows of 
no diversion, and a diligence which consents neither to rest nor 
intermission; which is so uppermost in his heart as to fill his 
conversation, and so entirely and constantly before his mind as to 
throw into its broad shadow every other subject of consideration; 
and which borrows from the intensity of his own feeling a 
strange fascination to engage the feelings of others—such an in¬ 
stance of decision, amounting to a ruling passion, exerts over us 
while witnessing it an influence which we feel to be contagious. 
We involuntarily, to a certain extent, sympathize with the indi¬ 
vidual who is thus carried away by his own fervor ; and if at the 
same time all this be an earnestness for promoting our own in¬ 
terests, its effect is absolutely irresistible. That man must be a 
stone, and destitute of the ordinary feelings of humanity, who can 
see another interested, active, and zealous for his welfare, and he 
himself remain inert and indifferent. Even the apathetic and 
indolent have sometimes been kindled into ardor and led to make 
efforts for themselves by the solicitude which others have mani¬ 
fested for their welfare. 

Tliere is a silent and almost unperceived process of thought 
often going on in the mind of those who are listening to the ser¬ 
mons of a preacher really laboring for the conversion of souls 
of t;^iis kind: “ Is he so earnest about my salvation, and shall I 


RELIGIOUS EARNESTNESS. 


259 • 


care nothing about the matter? Is my eternal happiness so 
much in his account, and shall it be nothing in mine? I can 
meet cold logic with counter arguments, or at any rate I can 
raise up difficulties against evidence. I can smile at the artifices 
of rhetoric, and be pleased with the displays of eloquence. I 
can sit unmoved under sermons which seem intended by the 
preacher to raise my estimate of himself, hut I cannot stand this 
earnestness about me. The man is evidently intent upon saving 
my soul. I feel the grasp of his hand laying hold of my arm as 
if he would pluck me out of the fire. He has not only made me 
think, but he has made me feel. His earnestness has subdued 
me.” 

Earnestness implies that the subject has not only been selected, 
hut that it has taken full possession of the mind and has kindled 
toward it an intense desire of the heart. It is something more 
than the correctness of theory and the deductions of logic ; more 
than the cool calculation of the judgment and the play of the 
imagination. Earnestness means that the understanding, having 
selected and appreciated its object, has pressed all the faculties 
of both mind and body into its pursuit. It urges the soul on¬ 
ward in its career of action at such a speed that it is set on fire by 
the velocity of its own motion. 

By the earnest minister the salvation of souls is sought with 
the obligation of a principle and the ardor of a passion. When 
the congregations go to hear him they know what to expect, 
and consequently do not look for the fiowers of rhetoric, but 
for the fruit of the tree of life; not for a dry crust of philosophy, 
not for a meatless,* marrowless bone of criticism, hut for the 
bread which cometh down from heaven; not for a display 
of religious fire-works, splendid hut useless, hut for the holding 
up of the torch of eternal truth in all its clear shining light, to 
guide the wandering and benighted souls to the refuge of the lost. 

It is only when the love of Clirist constraineth us, and beareth 
us away with the force of a torrent, that we shall speak with a 
manner befitting our great theme. If we are not intensely real 
we shall be but indilferent preachers. This shows us the vast 
moment of our living under the powerful impression of the truths 
we preach. We cannot, like the actor, have a stage-dress and 
character to put on for the occasion and put off when the cur¬ 
tain drops. There may, indeed, be a factitious earnestness ex¬ 
cited by the sounds of our own voice and by the solemnities of 


260 


SYMPATHY. 


public worship; but this will usually be fitful, feeble, oratorical, 
and very difierent from that burning ardor which is the result 
of eminent piety, and which imparts its own intensity of emo¬ 
tion to the words and tones of the speaker. Our animation 
must be the earnestness, not of rhetoric, but of religion; not of 
art, but of renewed nature; and not designed to astound, but to 
move; not the manner studied and intended merely to attract a 
crowd and to excite applause, but to save the souls of men from 
death. For this purpose, whatever means we employ, and what¬ 
ever rules we lay down, to cure the vices of a bad elocution and 
to acquire the advantages of a graceful one—and such an aim is 
quite lawful—we must ever remember that the basis of a power¬ 
ful and effective pulpit oratory will consist of a deep and fervent 
piety, in the absence of which the most commanding gift of 
public speaking will be but as sounding brass or a tinkling 
cymbal. 

To these impressive words it is only necessary to 
add, that ministerial earnestness should be definitely 
applied to the appropriate objects of a preacher’s 
labor, as, for instance, the conversion of souls. It 
has been well remarked that those who keep their 
eye fixed and their powers concentrated on this great 
object never labor in vain. 

As in human pursuits success usually follows 
the tireless prosecution of specific purposes, so the 
history of ministers proves that the Saviour has 
never withheld his blessing from the labors of 
those whose supreme object, whose-first, last, and 
absorbing desire has been the salvation of their 
fellow-men. 

2. Sympathy. The oldest theories of eloquence 
demand sympathy in the speaker who would arouse 
the feelings of his hearers. The maxim of the Latin 
poet Horace, to the effect that you must weep your¬ 
self* if you would see others weep, states but the 

* “ Si vismeflere, dolendum est 
Primum ipsi tibi.” 


CHKISTIAN SYMPATHY. 


261 


tiniversal experience of speakers and audiences. But 
the maxim has its highest application to Christian 
oratory. 

Preaching indeed addresses the intellect, but chiefly 
as a means of reaching its highest sphere of influ¬ 
ence—the sensibilities and the moral powers of the 
soul. As, therefore, no one can profltably occupy the 
thoughts of others who does not himself think, so it 
is idle for any one to hope to arouse the religious 
emotions of an audience when his own emotions are 
not enkindled. 

One has well said, ‘‘ Who can resist,, who would 
resist the fascination of a loving nature?” Men 
possessing it “blow whithersoever they list,” and 
men follow them. “They bear mankind in their 
arms, and are ever the prophets and pioneers of 
a more loving time. No man is fitted for the 
pulpit unless gifted with this sympathetic nature.” 
“All power with the speaker depends upon his 
capability of arresting the sympathies of his au¬ 
dience.” * 

Happily, true religion inspires this very spirit of 
love, and the legitimate work of the minister is to 
give it expression, and thus “win souls” to Christ. 
But let him beware of pretense, or of any affectation 
of feeling which he does not possess. On the other 
hand, let him seek first to experience deeply within 
his own soul the power of divine grace, and then to 
make every sermon its organ of communication to 
the souls of others. 

Genuine emotion is the charm of all speaking upon moral and 
religious subjects, in the absence of which the most measured 
and stately elocution, whatever pleasure it may impart to the 

* Shadows from the Lights of the Modern Pulpit. 


262 


UNCTION. 


ear, will have little power to affect the heart. We have some¬ 
times listened to lofty and well-composed, music; to an overture, 
for instance, which we could not but admire; but it was still 
cold admiration, for the whole piece had not a note of passion 
from beginning to end; but some simple melody followed it, 
which, by the pathos of its notes, or the power of its associa¬ 
tions, touched every chord in our hearts, and raised in us a 
tumult of emotion. Thus it is with different preachers: we 
listen to one, whose excellent composition, and sonorous, per¬ 
haps even musical voice command our admiration; but not a 
passion stirs; all within is cold, quiet, and without emotion; the 
speaking is good, but it does not move us. But there is another, 
with perhaps less talent, yea, less oratory, in one sense, but his 
tone, his looks, his manner throughout are full of earnest feel¬ 
ing; it is a strain, every word of which comes from the heart, 
and every word of which awakens by sympathy a correspondent 
state of feeling in our hearts.— James. 

3. Unction is another important element of effi¬ 
ciency in preaching. Unction is kindred to sym¬ 
pathy, but is of a higher and holier type. The true 
idea of it arises from those scriptural expressions 
which liken the Holy Spirit’s influence to an anoint¬ 
ing from on high.* Unction in preaching, therefore, 
may he considered the joint product of the Spirit’s 
influence on the heart of the speaker, and of his 
sanctifled efibrts on the hearts of the hearers. 

Thus far French writers have treated this subject 
more satisfactorily than the English, although many 
of the former have taken quite too low a view of it, 
regarding* it as merely the equivalent of pathos. 
Maury is one of this kind, and his section on L'Onc- 
tion has been rendered by his English translator 
under the head of Pathos. Blair has endeavored to 
explain the idea by calling it “ the union of gravity 
and warmthor more fully, that “ affecting, pene- 

* See 1 John ii, 20, 27 ; 2 Cor. i, 21; Heb. i, 9. 


UNCTION. 


263 


trating, interesting manner flowing from a strong 
sensibility of heart in the preacher to the importance 
of those truths which he delivers, and an earnest de¬ 
sire that they may make a full impression on the 
hearts of his hearers.” Johnson has much better' 
defined unction as ‘‘that fervor and tenderness of 
address which excites piety and devotion.” 

But the subject has been best elaborated by Yinet 
and the author from whom he so frequently quotes, 
Dutoit Membrini. The following paragraphs are 
from Dr. Skinner’s translation ofYinet’s Homiletics: 

Unction seems to me to be the total character of the Gospel; 
to be recognized, doubtless, in each of its parts, but especially 
apprehensible in their assemblage. It is the general savor of 
Christianity; it is a gravity accompanied by tenderness, a sever¬ 
ity tempered with sweetness, a majesty associated with intimacy, 
the true contemperature of the Christian dispensation, in whicli, 
according to the Psalmist’s expression, “Mercy and truth are 
met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” 
Psa. Ixxxv, 10. It is so proper a thing to Christianity and to 
Christian matters that we scarcely can think of transferring the 
term to other spheres, and when we meet with it applied to 
other things than Christian discourse or Christian actions we 
are astonished, and can only regard it as an analogy or a metaphor. 
There is no work of antiquity that awakens this idea. 

M. Dutoit Membrini thinks that in order to define unction, an 
intimate and mysterious quality, we must guard against formal 
definition and analysis. It is by the effects of unction and by 
analogies that he would explain it, or, to speak better, give us a 
taste of it. 

Unction is a mild warmth which causes itself to be felt in tlie 
powers of the soul. It produces in the spiritual sphere the same 
effects as the sun in the physical; it enlightens and it warms. 
It puts light in the soul; it puts warmth in the heart. It causes 
us to know and to love; it fills us with emotion! 

Its only source is a regenerate and gracious spirit. It is a gift 
which exhausts itself and is lost if we do not renew this sacred 
fire, which we must always keep burning; that which feeds it is 


264 


UNCTION. 


the internal cross, self-denial, prayer, and penitence. Unction 
in religious subjects is what in the poets is called enthusiasm. 
Thus unction is the heart and the power of the soul, nourished, 
kindled by the sweet influence of grace. It is a soft, delicious, 
lively, inward, profound, mellifluous feeling. 

Unction, then, is that mild, soft, nourishing, and at the same 
time luminous heat which illumines the spirit, penetrates the 
heart, moves it, transports it, and which he who has received it 
conveys to the souls and the hearts which are prepared to re¬ 
ceive it also! 

Unction is felt, is experienced; it cannot be analyzed. It 
makes its impression silently, and without the aid of reflection. 
It is conveyed in simplicity, and received in the same way by 
the heart, into which the warmth of the preacher passes. Ordi¬ 
narily, it produces its effect while as yet the taste of it is not 
developed in us, without our being able to give a reason to our¬ 
selves of what has made the impression. We feel, we experi¬ 
ence, we are touched, we can hardly say why! 

Unction may be very unequal in two preachers equal in piety; 
but it is too closely related to Christianity to be absolutely want¬ 
ing to truly Christian preaching. Certain obstacles, some nat¬ 
ural, others of error or of habit, may do injury to unction, and 
obstruct, so to speak, the passage of this soft and holy oil, which 
should always flow, to lubricate all the articulations of thought, 
to render all the movements of discourse easy and just, to pene¬ 
trate, to nourish speech. There is no artificial method of 
obtaining unction. The oil flows of itself from the olive; the 
most forcible pressure will not produce a drop from the earth, 
or from a flint; but there are means, if I may say so, by which 
we may keep without unction even a good basis of "piety, or of 
dissembling the unction which is in us, and of restraining it 
from flowing without. There are things incompatible with unc¬ 
tion. Such are wit, analysis too strict, a tone too dictatorial, 
logic too formal; irony, the use of too secular or too abstract 
language, a form too literary; finally, a style too compact and too 
close. 


From these indications of the character of unction 
and the hinderances to it, we may readily perceive 
that as a quality of discourse it flows out directly 


THE HOLY SPIRIT’S INFLUENCE. 265 

from the well-spring of a living Christian experience. 
It is not necessary to suppose that every minister 
whose discourses lack unction is absolutely deficient 
in piety. It is safer to believe that the false theories 
and the bad habits of some preachers put a check 
upon the outgush of their religious sympathies to an 
extent which neutralizes in no small degree the power 
of the truth they utter, and even grieves the holy 
Spirit, whereby their preaching needs to be sanctified 
before it can be of any avail. 

To the attainment of a true unction in preaching 
nothing is more essential than fervent prayer for the 
divine assistance. The Holy Spirit’s aid should be 
invoked from the first act of preparation to the last 
moment of delivery, with an unwavering confidence 
in those promises of God which assure us that we 
shall receive power to be witnesses for Jesus after 
that the Holy Ghost has come upon us. (See Acts i, 8.) 

The blessed Saviour, in accordance with prophetic 
announcement, was anointed “ to preach the Gospel 
to the poor; to heal the brokenhearted, to preach 
deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight 
to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, 
to preach the acceptable year of the Lord.” Luke 
iv, 18, 19. 

The apostles preached the Gospel by aid of “ the 
Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.” 1 Pet. i, 12. 

In these examples the preachers of modern times 
should see their own supreme necessity of the divine 
anointing, and also encouragement to hope for the 
“unction of the Holy One” while putting forth their 
own best exertions. 

In striving to attain this highest species of pulpit 
power, nothing is so essential as to cultivate that 
intimate communion with God which will enable us 


266 


THE HOLY SPIKIT’S INFLUENCE. 


to feel every moment that we are “ workers together 
with him,” while the divine spirit also worketh 
mightily in us to enable us to speak to the hearts of 
men. 

Thus it is that God will be glorified by the tender 
but efficient power of his own word. 


ADVANTAGES OF CLASSIFICATION. 


267 


CHAPTER XI. 

THE CLASSIFICATION OP SERMONS. 

ADVANTAGES OF CLASSIFICATION. 

Several advantages arise from a good system of 
classifying sermons: 

1. Snch a system conduces to the orderly arrange¬ 
ment of a preacher’s material for pulpit use, enabling 
him to avail himself of the accumulations of his past 
labor and study without loss of time. 

2. A judicious classification of sermons and mate¬ 
rial tends to a desirable variety in preaching, inas¬ 
much as no minister will wish to confine himself to 
a particular class of sermons, but rather to present 
to his people a suitable alternation of the various 
classes. 

3. The principle of classification equally tends to 
secure unity in each sermon, since, having determined 
to what class a given sermon should belong, the 
preacher can more easily guard himself against not 
employing matter or treatment belonging to other 
classes. 

4. On the basis of a good classification preachers 
can better appreciate and apply just principles of 
criticism, since the styles of language and of treat¬ 
ment which are applicable to some classes of sermons 
are quite inadmissible in others. 

Some writers and preachers have erroneously at¬ 
tempted to classify sermons according to the style 
of discussion or plan of division adopted in their 
construction. Hence the confused and obviously 


268 


BASIS OF CLASSIFICATION. 


improper designation of observational sermons, prop¬ 
ositional sermons, topical sermons, etc. 

BASIS OF CLASSIFICATION. 

The only proper basis for a correct and compre¬ 
hensive classification of sermons is found in 
the governing design of the preacher. 

The mere idea of subjects is inadequate, because 
the same subject may be distributed into different 
classes at pleasure. For example, the subject of 
repentance may be the leading topic of an exposi¬ 
tory discourse. Again, it may be treated with ex¬ 
clusive reference to Scripture doctrine. At another 
time the duty of repentance may be practically en¬ 
forced, and finally the same subject may be found 
adapted to any one of several occasions, such as a 
funeral or an appalling disaster. Hence we must 
return to the design of a preacher in employing 
subjects, and here, provided he is accustomed 
to have specific designs, will be found a correct 
guide. 

There is an obvious propriety and an equal conven¬ 
ience in distributing sermons into the following gen¬ 
eral classes: 

1. Expository. 2. Hortatory. 3. Doctrinal. 4. Prac¬ 
tical. 6. Miscellaneous or Occasional. 

Some other heads of classification have been pro¬ 
posed, for instance, experimental and doctrino-prac- 
tical. But it will be readily seen that experimental 
godliness is included under the more general head of 
practical, having reference to the subjective character 
or religious state of the individual who is disposed to 
an outward exemplification of God’s law. 

It is admitted that various combinations are possi¬ 
ble, and sometimes desirable, in the design of particular 


DISTKIBUTION. 


269 


sermons, as in the blending of doctrine and practice, 
but it is not wise on that account to create innumera¬ 
ble composite classes of sermons. The simple rule to 
be observed is to classify each sermon according to 
its predominant design, leaving subordinate and aux¬ 
iliary purposes out of view in deference to the princi¬ 
pal object. 

It will now be proper to consider the several classes 
of sermons in order, as a means of estimating correctly 
their intrinsic and relative importance, and also for 
the purpose of adding specific suggestions respecting 
some of the topics involved. 

§ 1. Expository Discourses. 

This class includes all sermons and lectures which 
are specially devoted to the exegesis of Scripture, 
whether in single or connected passages. Although 
exposition may be confined to brief texts, yet it is 
customary, and generally more appropriate, to take 
larger portions of Scripture as the basis of discussion, 
ranging from paragraphs to chapters, and often ex¬ 
tending in serial order to whole books of the Bible. 

It must be conceded that expository preaching has 
been too much neglected of late years, and yet its 
primary importance must be perceived by every one 
who will refiect upon its special design to make the 
word of God better understood. 

Chrysostom was accustomed to say that in this mode 
“ God speaks much and man little.” In the early 
Church exposition in homilies and sermons was the 
rule, and discourses upon set topics and brief texts 
were the exceptions. As the custom of modern times 
has gone to the opposite extreme, there is certainly 
room for improvement by returning at least to the 
medium ground of more frequent expositions of Scrip- 


270 


EXPOSITORY DISCOURSES. 


ture. Moreover, this mode of preaching is commend¬ 
ed by the best writers. 

Rev. Thomas Jackson, the biographer of Watson 
and Rewton, says: 

The most useful kind of preaching, we think, is the expository, 
giving the just meaning of God’s own word, and applying it to 
the consciences of the people, so as to convince them of sin, to 
bring them to the Saviour, and to enforce Christian duty in all its 
branches, because God’s word has an authority above every other. 

Rev. Daniel Moore, in his “ Thoughts on Preach- 
ingsays: 

Many and great are the advantages of exposition. To the 
preacher it may be very beneficial. It furnishes him with a new 
variety of pulpit address. It compels him to a more accurate 
and synthetical study of large portions of the word of God. It 
spares him all the hesitation and indecision and loss of time 
often attendant upon the choice of a text. And, above all, it 
keeps him from being too much wedded to the narrowness of 
human systems, by the fuller conspectus he is obliged to take of 
the whole counsel of God. To the people, also, the style has _ 
many advantages. It brings before them a larger field of divine 
truth at one view. It affords them a better opportunity for see¬ 
ing the doctrines of the Christian system in their related order 
and dependence. It admits of the bringing in of many collateral, 
but still far from unimportant topics, which if left for a set sub¬ 
ject of discourse might never have been enforced at all. It helps 
to fix marked passages of Scripture more permanently upon the 
memory, and it assists them in the formation of devout and 
intelligent habits in their own private reading of the word. 

In view of these and many similar considerations 
it may be asserted that every minister ought to be 
capable, and indeed fond of taking up connected por¬ 
tions of Scripture and expounding them in a manner 
adapted to interest and edify the people. If circum¬ 
stances prevent his doing this as systematically as he 
would desire in every appointment, they will scarcely 
prevent his doing it to a considerable extent. 

To attain skill and power in expository preaching 


EXAMPLES OF EXPOSITION. 


271 


mucli study and persevering practice are study and prac- 
necessary. This style of pulpit labor de- 
mands, in the first place, a thorough knowledge of 
the principles and applications of exegesis, superadded 
to which there must be “ a painstaking process of 
generalization; a skilled habit of separating all mere 
accessories from what we consider to be the parent 
thought; a discriminative grouping of scattered ele¬ 
ments, to make them bear on some one conclusion, 
and a facile power of transition from one part of the 
subject to another without the jarring sense of abrupt¬ 
ness and without injury to the general unity of the 
subject.” * 

There is no lack of excellent examples of this style 
of preaching, beginning back with the works of the 
fathers and. coming down through the Puritan di¬ 
vines of England to John Wesley, whose discourses on 
our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount may be commended 
as a model for comprehensiveness and conciseness. 

All good commentaries furnish material for exposi¬ 
tory preaching, but many of them are far from being 
models for pulpit style. 

Preachers attempting courses of expository ser¬ 
mons should guard against being tedious, and hence 
should as carefully study what to omit as what to 
say. Apart from the continuous exposition of 
chapters and books, there are numerous Scripture 
themes which may be profitably treated by them¬ 
selves, and which will usually extend to a sufiicient 
length for the interest of a public ministry. 

The following are samples of the topics referred to: 
the decalogue; the character of Moses, Peter, or Paul; 
prophecy, the beatitudes, the miracles, the panoply of 
God, the works of the flesh, and the fruits of the Spirit. 

* Moore. 


272 


HOETATORY DISCOURSES. 


§2. Hortatory Sermons. 

These may be fitly introduced in the sequel of ex¬ 
positions of Scripture or of doctrine. They are also 
appropriate in numerous circumstances where doc¬ 
trines or duties are understood, but need to be better 
practiced. 

In revivals of religion and services designed to 
promote them, hortatory preaching is much called 
for; but in order to have its best effect it should be 
well based upon Scripture and upon clear statements 
of doctrinal truth. 

As heretofore intimated, the gift of exhortation is 
greatly to be desired and cultivated; still no mistake 
would be greater than that of supposing that all the 
preaching needed in any congregation may be com¬ 
prised under this head. Hortatory preaching is in¬ 
dispensable in its proper place, but indiscretion in its 
use or continuance is only equaled by the error of 
neglecting it when it is demanded. 

It would not be difficult to select from authorita¬ 
tive sources numerous strong commendations of this 
style of preaching. The following extracts from 
James must suffice:* ^ 

It appears to me that a want of powerful, eloquent, yet simple 
and unaffected exhortation is one of the greatest deficiencies of 
the modern pulpit. 

We have to do not only with a dark intellect that needs to he 
instructed, but with a hard heart that needs to he impressed, 
and a torpid conscience that needs to be awakened; and have to 
make our hearers feel that in the great business of religion there 
is much to be done as well as much to be known. We must 
give knowledge, for light is as essential to the growth of piety 
in the spiritual world as it is to the growth of vegetation in the 
natural one; and then the analogy holds good in another point, 
* Earnest Ministry. 


HORTATORY PREACHING. 


2Y3 


for we must not only let in light, but add great and vigorous 
labor to carry on the culture. We must, therefore, rise from 
exegesis into exhortation, warning, and expostulation. The 
apostle’s manner is the right one : “ Whom we preach, warning 
every man, and teaching every man, that we may present every 
man perfect in Christ Jesus.” There must not only be the di¬ 
rective, but the impulsive manner. All our hearers know far 
more of the Bible than they practice; the head is far in advance 
of the heart; and our great business is to persuade, to entreat, 
to beseech. We have to deal with a dead, heavy ru inertm of 
mind; yea, more, we have to overcome a stout resistance and 
to move a reluctant heart. If all that was necessary to secure 
the ends of our ministry was to lay the truth open to the mind; if 
the heart was already predisposed to the subject of our preach¬ 
ing, then, like the lecturer on science, we might dispense with 
the hortatory manner, and confine ourselves exclusively to ex¬ 
planation ; logic unaccompanied by rhetoric would suflBce. But 
when we find in every sinner we address an individual acting in 
opposition to the dictates of his judgment and the warnings of 
his conscience, as well as to the testimony of Scripture: an indi¬ 
vidual who is sacrificing the interests of his immortal soul to the 
vanities of the world and the corruptions of his heart; an indi¬ 
vidual who is madly bent upon his ruin, and rushing to the prec¬ 
ipice from which he will take his fatal leap into perdition, can 
we in that case be satisfied with merely explaining, however 
clearly, and demonstrating, however conclusively, the truth of 
revelation ? To borrow the allusion which I have already made^ 
should we think it enough coldly to unfold the sin of suicide^ 
and logically to arrange the proofs of its criminality before the 
man who had in his hand the pistol or the poison with which he 
was just about to destroy himself? Would exegesis, however 
clear and accurate, be enough in this case ? Should we not en¬ 
treat, expostulate, beseech ? Should we not lay hold of the arm 
uplifted for destruction, and snatch the poison cup from the hand 
that was about to apply it to the lips? What is the case with 
the impenitent sinners to whom we preach but that of individ¬ 
uals bent upon self-destruction, not, indeed, the present destruc¬ 
tion of their bodies, but of their souls ? There they are before 
our eyes, rushing in their sins and their impenitence to the prec¬ 
ipice that overhangs the pit of destruction ; and shall we content 
ourselves with sermons, however excellent for elegance, for logic, 

18 


274 


DOCTRINAL DISCOURSES. 


for perspicuity, and even for evangelism, but which have no 
hortatory power, no restraining tendency, none of the apostle’s 
beseeching entreaty? Shall we merely lecture on theology, 
and deal out religions science to men who, amid a flood of light 
already pouring over them, care for none of these things? 


§ 3. Doctrinal Discourses. 

Doctrine literally signifies whatever is taught; and 
as a great object of preaching is to teach the truths 
and principles of Christianity, so doctrinal preaching 
should be common in all pulpits, and the object of 
much thought and preparation on the part of every 
minister. If it be objected that many congregations 
are prejudiced against doctrinal preaching, it may be 
replied that the preacher should seek to remove their 
prejudices by more interesting and vivacious modes 
of stating and illustrating Scripture doctrines than 
those under which such prejudices originated. 

Christianity has made but little real progress in a 
Doctrines fun- Community in which its doctrines have not 
damentai. gg tauglit as to be uiiderstood and 

believed. Every preacher, therefore, should aim to 
do his full share in the indoctrination of his hearers 
in all Christian truth. He should not be content 
with irregular and occasional presentations of the 
important and leading features of the Gospel system. 
He should endeavor to present them all in their ap¬ 
propriate connections, and that in a manner adapted 
to the audiences before which he may appear. In 
some circumstances it may not be best for the 
preacher to disclose in advance his design of follow¬ 
ing out a systematic course. In other cases it may 
awaken a greater interest and secure a larger attend¬ 
ance, together with preparatory or collateral reading, 
that will greatly contribute to its success. 


DOCTKINAL PREACHING. 


275 


Dr. Skinner has defined doctrinal preaching to be 
“that which shows the reason of things.” In this 
sense all preaching should be doctrinal. But the 
present theme requires more than this. It demands 
the elaborative and argumentative development of 
Scripture in its systematic connections. 

Important as this task is, it is to be confessed that 
between the superficial tastes of many hearers and 
the disinclination to thorough study on the part of 
many preachers, there is at the present time great 
danger of its being too much neglected. 

Dr. J. W. Alexander makes the following just 
allusions to this subject: 

The attempt to edify the Church without doctrinal instruction 
is like the attempt to build a house without foundation or frame¬ 
work. Let any in derision call the-doctrines if they 

will. What sort of a body would that be which was flesh and 
blood without bones? If any present them in skeleton naked¬ 
ness, divested of their vital relations to life and experience, this 
is the fault of those who do it, not of true and proper doctrinal 
preaching, which on one of its sides is practical and experimental. 
In fact, the two should never be torn asunder any more than the 
flesh and bones. They should even blend with and vitally pene¬ 
trate each other, and be pervaded by the unction of the Holy 
One. No sane man will contend for mere dogmatic abstractions 
in the pulpit. Much less should it be a theater for philosophic 
or metaphysical disquisitions. But it should be a theater for 
unfolding, illustrating, enforcing divine truth, proved by the tes¬ 
timony of Him for whom it is impossible to lie, to be appre¬ 
hended by the intellect, and vouched for by the conscience of man. 

Better far to take a theological topic and popularize it than 
the reverse, namely, to take a hortatory topic and thicken it 
by doctrine. Argument made red-hot is what interests people. 
Generally speaking, nothing interests so much as argument. 
People are accustomed to argument in such a country as ours. 
Argument admits of great vehemence and fire; argument may 
be made plain; argument may be made ornate; argument may be 
beaten out and thinned down to any degree of perspicuity. 


276 


PEACTICAL DISCOUKSES. 


It is a shame for a minister not to be acquainted with all the 
heads of theology, all the great schools of opinion, and all the 
famous distinctions; and he will not learn them well unless he 
preaches upon them. 

The stimulus to this pursuit will be best kept up if a man 
accustom himself to give a doctrinal tinge to all his preaching. 
Then he will read on these subjects. It is a great matter for a 
preacher to have the habit of deriving his entertainment, day by 
day, from the perusal of argumentative theology. Let him con¬ 
tinually advance into new fields and attack new adversaries. 
Let him continually revolve the terms of former controversies. 

§ 4r. Peactical Discoueses. 

A practical sermon is one which specially and 
predominantly aims at the enforcement of some 
Christian duty, or to secure the practice of some 
Christian obligation or privilege. 

In a subordinate but by no means unimportant 
sense all preaching should be practical, for what 
avails any theory that is followed by no desirable 
result ? “ Be ye doers of the word,” says the Apostle 

James, “and not hearers only, deceiving your own 
selves.” But as the duties enjoined by the word are 
numerous and particular, they require to be sepa¬ 
rately and minutely explained. They need to be set 
forth in their applications to individual social and 
public life. 

Each class in community needs to be enlightened 
as to the specific duties belonging to it, and the Scrip¬ 
ture motto of “ line upon line and precept upon pre¬ 
cept” has a special application to this branch of the 
preacher’s work. 

Practice is the great test of the power of precept, 
and few faithful pastors will not have occasion with 
earnestness and tearful solicitude to urge upon the 
people to keep the statutes and walk in the ordi¬ 
nances of the Lord. 


PKACTICAL PEEACHING. 


m 


But as the heart is the fountain of obedience or of 
disobedience, and as true piety is more the result of 
an inner life than of any set of opinions, it becomes 
necessary for the practical preacher to dwell much 
and forcibly upon the duties of repentance and faith 
and hope and love, as well as those of prayer, alms¬ 
giving, and attendance upon the services and ordi¬ 
nances of God’s house. 

He seeks, indeed, to realize a practical effect from 
his own example and preaching in the lives of all his 
hearers. 

He looks that the word of God he quick and powerful, sharper 
than a two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder 
of the soul and spirit, of the joints and marrow. He looks that 
under every sermon souls should he begotten hy the word of 
truth. He watches for the answer of Christ’s prayer, that the 
people may he sanctified through the truth. He exerts himself 
for the “pricking of the heart,” and for the inquiry “what must 
I do to he saved ?” * 

The idea of preaching a sermon that will be ad¬ 
mired, or that will merely entertain an audience, is 
far beneath his plans and his aspirations. He con¬ 
stantly aims at efficiency, and he hopes in every 
sermon to realize the encouraging promise of the 
Saviour: Lo, I am with you.” 

Whatever may be said of some other kinds of dis¬ 
course, practical preaching is within the range of 
every minister called of God, and all ministers should 
endeavor in the best and highest sense to be practical 
in their ministrations. On the experimental aspect 
of this subject an English writer has well said: 

Whatever your subject, whatever the occasion on which your 
ministry is exercised, let it he apparent that what you advance 
is the result of experience; that you are not descanting on themes 

* Adams: “ Minister for the Times.” 


278 


EXPERIMENTAL PREACHING. 


with which you are unacquainted, or acquainted only as matters 
of speculation and discussion, which come before you in the 
course of professional duty; but let it be obvious that you have 
“tasted” that the Lord is gracious, that “you have seen with 
your eyes, and that your hands have handled the Word of Life.” 

When preaching is experimental in its character it is peculiarly 
interesting to a devout audience. They enjoy it exceedingly. It 
fixes their attention, secures their edification, benefits their hearts. 
And such preaching comes with power to the generality of hear¬ 
ers. Besides, when ministers preach experimentally, how pleas¬ 
ant it is to themselves when out of the fullness of the heart 
the mouth speaks; when the subjects on which they dilate are 
appreciated by themselves; when the sentiments which they 
utter are connected with deep emotions; when they can say to 
the truly pious in their congregations, “O magnify the Lord 
with me, and let us exalt his name together!” Psa. xxxiv, 3. 

How superior, in the judgment at least of the more devout, 
and for all the great ends of the ministry, is an experimental 
style of preaching to that which is merely intellectual—essay-like! 
The latter may be argumentative, philosophical, abounding in 
large and enlightened views, in beautiful displays of thought and 
expression; still, if there be no heart put into it, if it be seen 
that the minister preaches what he does not understand by ex¬ 
perience, what he does not appreciate and feel himself, what 
interest is awakened? What spiritual benefit is reaped? What 
power on the hearts of the people is realized?— Wallace. 


§ 5. Miscellaneous or Occasional Discourses. 

This class is designed to comprise all sermons that 
do not appropriately belong to any of the foregoing 
classes. It is based on the general idea of adaptation 
to occasions, although it is designed to include certain 
serial sermons which take their name rather from 
subjects than occasions, such as historical discourses, 
astronomical discourses, etc. 

Some of the more important occasions and topics 
of miscellaneous discourses will now be considered. 


FUNEKALS. 


2Y9 


FUNERALS. 

Death is God’s voice by which he speaks to the 
living. Ministers must hear this voice, and echo it 
to the hearts of the people. 

A great point has been won by the religion of 
Christ in the universal concession of the propriety 
of inviting ministers of the Gospel to officiate in con¬ 
nection with the last offices rendered to mortality. 
As funerals are constantly occurring, they secure to 
ministers access to numerous individuals whom they 
would rarely if ever reach in the ordinary course of 
their duties. Generally, too, they preoccupy the 
minds of mourners and friends with sentiments favor¬ 
able to religious impressions. 

These circumstances increase the obligations of 
ministers to improve such sad occasions in accord¬ 
ance with the highest designs of the sacred office. 

In cities and populous districts the instances are 
comparatively rare in wdiich formal funeral sermons 
are required. Informal funeral addresses, however, 
are scarcely less important; and although often deliv¬ 
ered to small audiences and in private houses, should 
nevertheless be regarded by ministers as a very re¬ 
sponsible part of their work. The words of life, fitly 
spoken on these occasions, will sink deeply into the 
hearts of the bereaved and their sympathizing friends, 
and will often be instrumental in leading them directly 
to the true source of consolation. 

Great tenderness and Christian sympathy, together 
with unshrinking faithfulness in declaring the truth 
of God, are necessary to render funeral addresses in 
the highest degree instrumental of good. They should 
be followed, moreover, by kind words and pastoral 


280 


SERMONS. 


attentions, wMch, like gentle showers, will water the 
seed sown, causing it to grow and produce fruit. 

When ministers of the Gospel, aged members of 
the Church, or prominent citizens in a community 
are summoned away by death, appropriate custom 
demands the full funeral sermon. The matter and 
the manner appropriate to such occasions will usually 
be dictated by the principle of adaptation better than 
by any set rules. Opportunities of doing good have 
often been wasted, if not perverted to evil, by minis¬ 
ters consenting to make funeral sermons the vehicles 
of fulsome eulogy, or mere parts of an ostentatious 
ceremony void of any powerful religious application. 

They ought always, on the other hand, unmasked 
by either the fear or favor of man, to be luminous 
with truth, and pointed with application to the hearts 
and consciences of the people. 

A prevailing fault of funeral discourses is the occu¬ 
pation of too much time with generalities or truths 
that have no special application to the existing cir¬ 
cumstances. It is far better to confine such discourses 
to narrower limits, and to that particular range of 
thought which all will recognize to be pertinent. 

The task of preaching or delivering addresses at 
the funerals of impenitent and immoral men is one of 
proverbial delicacy, but from which no minister should 
shrink when duty demands the efibrt. A keen sense 
of discretion, mingled with unwavering fidelity to 
truth, will seldom or never fail to dictate what is 
proper to be said on such occasions, and will often 
lead the minister through threatened embarrassments 
to unlooked-for success. 

On all subjects relating to life, death, judgment, 
and eternity, the servant of God is furnished with the 
strongest declarations of divine truth, at once direct- 


SPECIAL PBOVIDENCES. 


281 


ing what should be the burden of his discourse, and 
shielding him, if faithful to his message, from all sus¬ 
picion of speaking his own words. 

SPECIAL PROVIDENCES. 

The occurrence of unusual events, such as a pesti¬ 
lence, an earthquake, a tornado, a conflagration, a 
great public calamity or blessing of any kind, will 
usually suggest to the thoughtful minister lessons of 
instruction which it w'ould be wrong for him to with¬ 
hold, and which, by diligent preparation and faithful 
delivery on his part, may be rendered of lasting ben- 
eflt to his people. It is thus that ministers may 
become the interpreters of Providence and the agents 
of instruction to many who without their guidance 
would fail to perceive the moral lessons which God 
is continually teaching in the events of the world. 

MISSIONS AND BENEVOLENCE. 

Discourses relating to benevolent enterprises in 
various forms multiply as Churches become organized 
and efficient. It becomes Christian ministers to take 
the lead in all good works, and to develop with sys¬ 
tem and energy the moral power of the Church. 

This cannot be done without thought, sympathy, 
and labor. A primary effort must always be to in¬ 
doctrinate a congregation into the true principles 
of benevolence, so that they may regard giving a 
privilege to be desired rather than a hardship to be 
shunned. The general principles of benevolence 
cover numerous branches of Christian and philan¬ 
thropic effort. Hence if properly taught in advance 
they will not need to be elaborated on every special 
occasion, although they can hardly be summarily 
stated in too many, forms. For this preliminary 


282 


MISSIONARY SERMONS. 


teaching no inconsiderable aid may be derived from 
the perusal of “ Mammon,” “ Gold and the Gospel,” 
and various other prize essays on systematic benefi¬ 
cence. 

Among benevolent enterprises Christian missions 
stand foremost. In fact, they embrace within their 
legitimate agencies nearly every form of benevolent 
activity, such as writing and distributing religious 
tracts, and printing and circulating the word of God. 

To how many noble and impressive efforts of the 
pulpit have these sacred enterprises given rise within 
the last half century ! Indeed, how much of all that 
has been accomplished in modern times toward the 
evangelization of the world is due to that truly evan¬ 
gelical preaching which has proclaimed the world to 
be the field of Christian effort, and every human 
being a proper subject of Christian hope and labor! 

One has only to read the sermons of Kichard W at- 
son, of Kobert Hewton, of John M. Mason, of Ste¬ 
phen Olin, and many other honored preachers on the 
glorious themes relating to the spread of the Messiah’s 
kingdom and promised glory, to be transported to 
the loftiest regions of thought and sublime emotion. 

Are these subjects confined to the special advocates 
of benevolent enterprises, and must the pastor waive 
their treatment in favor of expected visits from sec¬ 
retaries or agents? Hay, for his own sake and for 
the sake of the Gospel let every minister, and espe¬ 
cially every pastor, make himself familiar with the 
themes and facts of every enterprise of Christian 
benevolence, that in his proper place and at the fit¬ 
ting time he maybe their consistent and powerful ad¬ 
vocate. 


FESTIVAL OCCASIOKS, 


283 


FESTIVAL OCCASIONS. 

The annals of the Church show that from the earli¬ 
est times preaching has accompanied those commem¬ 
orative observances designed to mark great events in 
the Gospel history, such as the birth and the resur¬ 
rection of Christ. 

In the corruption of the Church these commemora¬ 
tive festivals were multiplied to excess, and the 
number of festivals were still augmented by the addi¬ 
tion of days of commemoration for hundreds of saints 
and martyrs. The eulogies prescribed for the latter, 
and the routine of topics dictated by the former, 
combined to displace more important topics and 
induce a decline in the faithfulness and power of 
preaching from which the Roman Church has never 
recovered. 

Still, to a limited and proper extent the festivals 
of the Christian Church deserve the notice of the pul- 
j)it. With them must also be classed days of national 
observance, such as fast days and days of thanksgiving. 

Dedications and anniversaries of churches partake 
of the same festival character, and often give rise to 
impressive discourses. 

Watch-nights, held on the eve of the new year, 
are often rendered peculiarly solemn by the delivery 
of appropriate sermons. 

Preachers should not hesitate to avail themselves 
both of regular and irregular occurrences of this kind 
as a means of securing attention to the truth, or of 
making a deeper impression upon the minds of men. 

TEMPERANCE. 

The great sin of drunkenness, and the systematic 
efforts made to check its progress and rescue its vie- 


284 


EDUCATION AND SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 


tims, have given rise to many powerful sermons. 
Wherever similar necessities exist, and it is to be 
feared that they will not soon cease, the faithful min¬ 
ister is called upon to lift up his voice, to cry aloud 
and to spare not. 

The Scriptures abound with terrible denunciations 
against the crime of intemperance, and the guilt of 
even complicity with its indulgence. Let every min¬ 
ister, then, be instant in season and out of season, 
warning and teaching both young and old to avoid 
the inebriating glass. 

EDUCATION AND SUNDAY-SCHOOLS. 

The enterprise of Christian education, both in the 
work of secular instruction under Christian influence 
and in the religious training of the young by means 
of Sunday-schools, demands frequent effort and tire¬ 
less cooperation from the sacred desk. Parents need 
to be aroused to a sense of their responsibilities, the 
young stimulated to effort in the right, and teachers 
encouraged and guided in their efforts. 

1^0 pastor should omit to denounce ignorance, and 
set forth the attractions and advantages of knowl¬ 
edge, or to prompt Christian men and Churches to 
enlarged philanthropy in founding and maintaining 
institutions of sanctified learning. 

PREACHING TO CHILDREN. 

In addition to that preaching which is auxiliary to 
Sunday-schools in the way of enlisting teachers, se¬ 
curing books and appliances, and gathering together 
men, women, and children “ to learn the law of the 
Lord,” there is the duty of preaching directly to 
children themselves. Now that Sunday-schools are 
established, they furnish the occasions and the audi- 


PREACHING TO CHILDREN. 


285 


ences; but the duty of preaching to children would 
exist if there were no Sunday-schools. “Feed my 
lambs ” is an ever-binding command of the Saviour. 
And how can ministers worthily obey this command 
except by breaking to children “ the bread of life,” 
by dispensing to them “ the sincere milk of the word, 
that they may grow thereby.” 

And yet many professed ministers of Christ think 
that preaching to children is too small business for 
them. As though anything could be small which 
involves the interests of immortal souls. Others de¬ 
cline the task on the plea that they have no gift for it. 
If it be a duty, they should “ covet earnestly ” the gift 
which will enable them to perform it. An idea seems 
to have gained great prevalence among ministers, 
that a special talent is necessary in order to address 
children successfully. When this idea is so enter¬ 
tained as to deter any one from doing his full duty 
to the lambs of Christ’s flock it deserves severe rep¬ 
robation ; but when received by a minister, as an ad¬ 
monition to stir up the gift that is in him and to cul¬ 
tivate the talent needed and desired, it is to be 
regarded as in harmony with the truth. It is beyond 
question that for this, as well as certain other depart¬ 
ments of the preacher’s work, some men possess a 
greater natural adaptation than others. Neverthe¬ 
less, it is equally true that any man possessing the 
ordinary qualifications of a minister of the Gospel, 
and an anxious solicitude to enter this open door of 
usefulness, may acquire the talent of preaching inter¬ 
estingly and successfully to children; while all will 
improve by practice, and by giving due attention 
to the importance of the task and the elements of 
success. 


286 


PKEACHING TO CHILDREN. 


CHILDREN SHOULD BE THE SPECIAL SUBJECTS OF 
PREACHING. 

1. Because they are included in Christ’s command, 

“ Go teach all nations.” 

2. Because when properly addressed they are, as a 
class, the most susceptible and hopeful of all Christian 
hearers. 

3. Their hearts are tender, their minds are not pre¬ 
occupied with error, and they are not confirmed in 
habits of sin. Besides, their sympathies are easily en¬ 
listed by examples of truth and goodness. 

4. They are the subjects of special divine promises. 
Consult Prov. viii, 17; Isa. liv, 13; Acts ii, 39, and 
numerous other passages of Scripture. 

Conformably to the encouragements of the divine 
word, the experience of the Church within a quarter 
of a century past, to the full extent that correct ideas 
have prevailed concerning juvenile conversions, has 
fully justified the belief that special labor in behalf of 
children is more sure of success than in behalf of any 
other class of society. 

There are two modes of preaching to children that 
deserve commendation. The first is by the 

Two modes. , - " 

introduction of what may be called the 
children's department into the regular sermon. Every 
minister would certainly wish to encourage the at¬ 
tendance of children upon the services of the sanc¬ 
tuary, and it is to be expected that in every Christian 
congregation there will be a fair proportion of juvenile 
hearers. Now is it right to withhold from this most 
hopeful part of the audience all recognition or address 
adapted to their tastes and capacities? And yet 
many ministers, from month to month and from year 
to year, seem to never remember that the children of* 


PKEACHING TO CHILDKEN. 


28 T 


their congregations, as well as others, are, by the spe¬ 
cial appointment of the Lord, entitled to “ their por¬ 
tion of meat in due season.” 

Is not such a course of obvious neglect precisely 
calculated to create in the minds of the young a 
life-long distaste for religious worship as tedious, 
partial, or unmeaning? Is not the great Shepherd 
justly offended by such treatment of his lambs ? 

This culpable neglect may be easily remedied by 
the children’s department in a sermon, or the intro¬ 
duction of more or less passages specially addressed 
to the young. JS^o doubt many a grave divine will 
be startled at the mention of such a departure from 
antiquated custom, and at the possible violation of 
rhetorical unity I But what avails rhetorical unity 
if our proper work is not accomplished ? And what 
ancient custom is of higher authority than the exam¬ 
ple of our divine Lord, who in the midst of his public 
ministry repeatedly took special notice of little chil¬ 
dren, even to the amazement of some of his dis¬ 
ciples.* 

Let no one be alarmed lest the occasional introduc¬ 
tion of passages and illustrations adapted to the com¬ 
prehension of children should detract from the inter¬ 
est which older people of good sense will take in their 
discourses. The truth is, that most adult persons 
will find plain and familiar explanations of truth 
quite as interesting as do children; whife the com¬ 
mon tendency to monotony in speaking and dullness 
in hearing is greatly relieved by an occasional effort 
to arouse and enlist the attention of childhood. 

These very passages addressed to the children, 
when fitly introduced, are not only approved by older 
persons as appropriate, but are often remembered by 

* Matt, xix, 13, 14; Mark ix, 36, 37 ; x, 13-16 ; Luke xviii, 15-17. 


288 


PREACHING TO CHILDREN. 


them with tenacity when the more pretentions por¬ 
tions of the sermon are all forgotten. At the same 
time their great object is realized in those definite 
and timely impressions which they make npon the 
hearts and memory of those who, in many cases, 
will live and act important parts npon the stage 
of life when the preacher shall have gone to his 
reward. 

While the introduction into seinnons of episodes or 
diversions in behalf of children will subserve most 
excellent purposes, it will by no means accomplish 
the full duty of the pastor to the children of his 
flock. 

Sjpecial sermons should also be prepared and 
preached to assemblies of children. E^otwithstanding 
all the occasional addresses that are made to them in 
Sunday-schools, it is well for the minister to appoint 
preaching services particularly for children several 
times a year. 

On these occasions the children should be seated in 
a body, and in close proximity to the speaker. If 
adults are present they should be considered as hav¬ 
ing no claims upon the time or attention of the 
preacher. Everything should be arranged with ref¬ 
erence to the interest and profit of the children, and 
for the time being the preacher should surrender him¬ 
self wholly to the sympathies which the presence of 
childhood will awaken. 

In no other way can justice be done to such occa¬ 
sions. In no other way can a preacher determine to 
what extent it is possible for him to interest and ben¬ 
efit companies of children. 

The very efibrt to do this will prove profitable to 
preachers themselves, and will often enable them to 
improve their habits of preaching to adults. As ele- 


ELEMENTS OF SUCCESS. 289 

ments of success in preaching to children it is well to 
observe, 

1. That by the nature of the case long sermons 
are inadmissible. 

2. Plain subjects are demanded. 

3. Familiarity of language and a conversational 
tone of voice must be employed. While words of 
learned length should be avoided, it is a needless 
affectation of simplicity to confine the address to 
monosyllables. No such restraint is put upon the 
language of the nursery, and children will be far 
more puzzled with rare monosyllables than with 
common polysyllables. While illustrations should be 
frequent, care should be taken not to protract them 
with too much detail. 

4. The indispensable condition of success is to 
secure and keep the attention. To this end great 
liberties may and often must be taken. Questions 
may be introduced and answers demanded. The 
tone of voice may be suddenly varied, and the sub¬ 
ject apparently changed; nevertheless the unity of 
address must be maintained, and its essential point 
never lost sight of. 

In all cases the preacher must remember, that 
though he is called on by these occasions to be child- 
Uke in expression and action, he must never allow 
himself to be or appear child^'sA. Some persons have 
imagined that mere story-telling is sufiicient for ad¬ 
dresses to children. Stories fitly selected and well 
told have important uses in awakening the interest of 
the young; but they should always be pointed with 
pertinent application, and made to tell upon the high 
religious objects which alone will justify formal at¬ 
tempts to bring the Gospel home to the hearts of chil¬ 
dren. This is an important and fruitful theme, but 
19 


290 


PKEACHING TO CHILDREN. 


its consideration must not be protracted further than 
to insert the following judicious remarks from Moore: 

No doubt the failures in addresses to cliildren are more fre¬ 
quent than the successes; but most commonly, as we believe, 
from one cause. The men have never laid themselves out to 
succeed. They have thought that the process of descending to 
the lower ledges of childish thought must follow the facile laws 
of other descents; have allowed themselves to imagine that the 
entire difficulty was a mere affair of the spelling-book, and that 
if they only kept from the use of any long or hard words they 
might be quite sure of being understood. But no supposition can 
be more fallacious than this. If the line of thought be simple, 
and the method of illustration lively, and the images and appeals 
and arguments be all in unison with the mental habitudes of 
childhood, the preacher of a sermon to children may be betrayed 
into the use of a hard word here and there with very little prej¬ 
udice to the understanding of his subject, and with none what¬ 
ever to the general interest of his address. But let this special 
adaptation to the mental organization of the young be over¬ 
looked, and what will be the consequence? Why the speaker 
will not have gone on far before on the countenances of all pres¬ 
ent will be seen nothing but blank, vacant, uneasy listlessness. 
He perceives that with all his picking of “small words ” he is too 
high for them. He has been putting matured thoughts into 
children’s language. And the things agree not together, any 
more than would a piece of new cloth when sewed on to an old 
garment. And so, in despair, he betakes himself to the other 
extreme, tasks his inspiration to supply him with some extem¬ 
poraneous juvenilities, when in all probability he will stumble 
upon illustrations intellectually on a par with those of “ the in¬ 
destructible primer,” to the wonderment, it may be, of the very 
infantile section of his auditory, but to the offended and sublime 
disgust of every child above six years of age. 

To come down to the intellectual processes of children, there¬ 
fore, we repeat, is no ''\facilis descensusy A man must read 
books for it, study minds for it, write carefully for it. He may 
dispense with his manuscript in delivery; but he will not, in 
preparation, do wisely to dispense with his pen. Especially 
should ho guard against being too juvenile. Children are more 
sensitive even than the poor to condescensions of this sort; 


PREACHING TO CHILDREN. 


291 


and therefore, in preparing his subject, the preacher should 
have before him some model mind. A sermon addressed to the 
average intelligence of children, say at the age of eight years, 
would take in as wide a range of mental sympathies on either 
side the line as sermons of this kind are expected to influence. 
Such sermons, judiciously managed, will interest others besides 
children, especially the 'poor^ who always like illustrative preach¬ 
ing better than any other; and parents^ who are not sorry, by 
means of these addresses, to learn how to become teachers them¬ 
selves. 


292 


A MEANS, NOT AN END. 


CHAPTER XIL 

THE STYLE OF SERMONS. 

Style in sermons, as involving the quality of lan¬ 
guage in which religious truth is expressed, must 
never be overlooked as a topic of minor importance. 
Nevertheless, style in preaching is to be regarded as 
a means, not as an end. Whoever makes the sermon 
an occasion for displaying fine language ij|,ther than 
exhibiting truth; for pleasing the ears and cultivat¬ 
ing the taste of an audience, rather than convincing 
their judgment and moving their hearts, radically 
mistakes the design of preaching, or wrongly seeks to 
pervert an appointed means of doing good into an 
agency for securing applause. He preaches himself 
or his own contrivings, and not Christ Jesus the 
Lord. And yet whoever would preach Christ cruci¬ 
fied is called upon by everything that is dignified in 
truth or sacred in religion to do it in fitting words. 

GENERAL QUALITIES OP A GOOD STYLE.. 

The established laws of rhetoric clearly prescribe 
those general qualities of language which are indis¬ 
pensable in every good sermon. A simple enumera¬ 
tion must suffice. They are, 

1. Purity and propriety^ which require accredited 
words of the English language in their appropriate 
usage. 

2. Precision. The use of words in their exact 
meaning, and without redundancy. 


SPECIAL QUALITIES. 293 

3. Perspicuity, Perfect clearness, without obscu¬ 
rity, ambiguity, or long sentences. 

4. Unity. Singleness of aim and expression. 

5. Strength. That use and arrangement of words 
which will make the most forcible impression. 

On the other hand, Christian discourse sternly re¬ 
jects all those faults of style which are condemned by 
the laws of rhetoric; such as tautology, dryness, flo- 
ridity, and bombast. 

The general qualities of style, both good and bad, 
are so ably treated in numerous text-books on rhet¬ 
oric and language as to need no special notice here. 
There are, however, certain qualities and combina¬ 
tions demanded by a good style for the pulpit which 
deserve to be pointed out. 

§ 1. Special Qualities eequiked in a Good Style 
FOR THE Pulpit. 

DIGNIFIED SIMPLICITY. 

The didactic character of pulpit address requires 
uniformly such a choice of language as will tend to 
make wise the simple, and at the same time to ele¬ 
vate the conceptions and the taste of all grades of 
hearers. In the effort to be plain the minister must 
carefully avoid triviality. He must employ words and 
present images which correspond to the grandeur of 
the truths which he proclaims, and yet which may be 
understood by the unlearned. Simplicity in this con¬ 
nection is opposed to the affectation of elegance, and 
the straining after pompous words or unusual expres¬ 
sions. It accepts the language of the people, to whom 
it seeks to communicate truth, and makes it the in¬ 
strument of elevating their thoughts and of ennobling 
their character. Preachers cultivating this quality 


294 


SPECIAL QUALITIES. 


of language are by no means restricted to a narrow 
vocabulary. They may even use words not familiar 
to their audience with proper explanations, but they 
will carefully avoid all display of learning. 

It is a miserable vanity which delights itself in ag¬ 
gregating far-fetched terms or phrases in the idea 
that pulpit discourse is thereby improved in quality. 
Equally at fault is the weak ambition to excel in 
prettiness; to tickle the ears or amuse the fancy of 
an audience when the interests of immortal souls are 
at stake. 

This lisping poetry, this mincing elegance of diction, this 
trumpery and moonshine of superficial rhetoric, this would-bc 
eloquence, which is uttered only to be admired, how impious the 
impertinence!* 

An elaboration that is betrayed in every part of the discourse, 
and which makes it but too evident to any serious or observant 
mind that it was the preacher’s aim not to convert souls, but to 
catch applause; which, in the view of the fashionable, the giddy, 
and the frivolous, entitles the sermonizer to the highest rank 
among pulpit orators; which fills the discourse with fiowery 
diction and gaudy metaphors, with elegant declamation and 
fanciful descriptions, with tasteful addresses and beautiful pic¬ 
tures; which, though it takes the cross for its subject, almost 
instantly leaves it and runs out into the fields of poesy, or the 
labyrinths of metaphysics, for its subtle arguments or its spark¬ 
ling and splendid illustrations; which, to sum up all, engages the 
judgment or amuses the imagination, but never moves the heart, 
or calls the conscience to discharge its severe and awful func¬ 
tions ; such preaching may render a minister popular, secure him 
large congregations, and procure for him the plaudits of the* 
multitude; but where are the sinners converted from the error 
of their way, and the souls saved from death? Verily, I say 
unto you, if such a preacher has his reward only in the applause 
of the multitude, whose object and aim were as low as his own, 
it was what he sought and all he sought, and let him not com- 

* Professor Park in Biblical Eepository. 


DIGNIFIED SIMPLICITY. 


295 


plain if he have this and nothing else. From such preachers 
may God Almighty preserve our Churches, and may he give ns 
men who better know their business in the pulpit and better 
do it!— James. 

Even the severity of this language should not be 
abated toward those who knowingly and willfully in- 
dulge in such abuses of pulpit style. But 
are there not many who have fallen into 
them in some degree from sheer ignorance of what is 
better ? It is a proverbial weakness of partially edu¬ 
cated minds to be delighted with sound rather than 
sense, and usually the best remedy for a sophomoric 
style is found in thorough mental development. 

A man who is conscious of knowledge can afford 
to be simple; one who would appear to be learned 
is perpetually straining after that which he cannot 
reach. 

The philosophy of the errors above indicated is 
well stated by Theremin : 

The orator should never rise into expressions, phrases, and 
images that are above the language of cultivated society, even 
before an auditory that would be able to follow a higher style 
of thought, and to understand more exquisite modes of speech. 
I mention this for the sake of those who think they impart a 
peculiar dignity and force to their discourse by the use of poetic 
ornament, by employing words which they bring forth from the 
dust of past centuries, and by constructions which are foreign to 
pure prose. But this is always only a cold show without power. 
In the throng of active life, amid heartrending misfortunes, 
during the silent hours of contemplation, does the hearer make 
known his thoughts and feelings to himself and to others in a 
highly flowery style, and in strange, unusual phraseology? Cer- 
- tainly not. The style of expression which spontaneously associ¬ 
ates itself with the silent emotions of our heart when they come 
forth into consciousness, is always as noble as it is simple. If, 
therefore, the orator would penetrate into our inner life, and 
renew again the traces of forgotten thoughts and feelings; if he 


296 


SCKIPTUKAL CONGRUITY. 


would actually address us, he must employ the very same well- 
known and customary language in which we are wont to com¬ 
mune w-ith ourselves. Every strange expression, nay, every 
unusual phrase, tears us away from ourselves, instead of leading 
us back into ourselves; and the stream of inward harmonies, 
which perhaps was on the point of flowing forth, suddenly breaks 
upon such unexpected obstacles and is dissipated. Moreover, 
with the disturbance of this flow is connected displeasure toward 
a man who decks himself out in a showy costume of sounding 
phrases, which, after all, are not so very difficult to collect to¬ 
gether, instead of employing my common, every-day language 
along with me, to his own true advantage as well as mine. 
Those very rare instances when the speaker selects an unusual 
expression for an unusual thought are, of course, excepted here; 
but to allow one’s self in even the slightest departure from ordi¬ 
nary language, unless there is some particular reason to justify it, 
seems to me to be unadapted to the oration, and contrary to its 
aim; and is therefore, according to the theory of eloquence here 
laid down, morally blameworthy. 

SCRIPTUEAL CONGRUITY. 

A happy use of scriptural quotations adds mucli to 
the impressiveness of pulpit discourse, and yet a 
sermon cannot be made up of Scripture phrases. 
But as it is founded on Scripture, and makes fre¬ 
quent use of the language of inspiration, it should be 
in constant harmony with it. Yinet applies the 
term scriptural tone to the quality now commended, 
and thinks he sees in it a union of everything that is 
excellent in pulpit style. He would have the imag¬ 
ination of the preacher imbued with scriptural scenes, 
and all his thoughts in harmony with the spirit of the 
sacred volume. 

Hothing will more improve the style of a preacher 
than this essential harmony between his language 
and that of the divine word. The Bible is em¬ 
phatically the book of the people, and familiarity 
with it has prepared most Christian audiences to 


SKILL REQUIRED. 


297 


appreciate not only those beauties and sublimities in 
which it abounds, but all which are kindred to them. 

I would recommend (says Theremin) to all sacred orators the 
frequent employment of the expressions and images of the sacred 
Scriptures as a highly adapted and effectual means of exciting 
affection, provided only they be not brought in merely to fill up 
empty space, but are fused into the discourse, retaining their 
whole dignity and force. They are highly adapted, for the lan¬ 
guage of the Bible can never become antiquated, because it 
affords so many highly significant expressions for the manifold 
conditions of human life and states of the human heart, many of 
which appear as proverbial phrases in the language of common 
intercourse; and however much religious education and the 
reading of the Bible may have been neglected, the orator may 
yet, in the case of the generality of hearers, reckon with cer¬ 
tainty upon a thought being understood sooner in a biblical than 
in a philosophical dress. But the great power of Bible language 
in awakening affection consists principally in this, that in it the 
expression for the understanding and the expression for the 
feelings are not so different as in merely human representations, 
but are always one and the same. The figures so frequent in 
the Bible, while they have all the precision of an abstract term¬ 
inology, at the same time transfer the idea into the web of hu¬ 
man relationships, and clothe it with all that can exert infiuence 
upon the mind; they are a ray which unites in one both light and 
heat, and passes over from the mind into the heart, thus kindling 
the whole man. If, now, as is often the case, a sentence from 
the Bible, on our first meeting with it, or upon after occasions, 
has awakened a whole series of pious emotions, the orator, by 
citing it as he passes on, can evoke anew the affection which has 
already become connected with it, and can apply it to the pur¬ 
poses of his oration. 

But while the clerical student seeks to imbue his 
mind with scriptural truth, and to infuse 
the spirit of the Gospel into all his public 
utterances, he must guard against a theological dia¬ 
lect, or an unskillful amalgamation of sacred with 


298 


FAULTY USE OF TEEMS. 


common phraseology. A few paragraphs from one of 
Dr. Porter’s lectures will illustrate this fault: 

It is found sometimes in single words, as perad'centure^ used 
iovperhaps; tribulation for affliction or distress; sensuality and 
carnality for sinful affections ; and edification for instruction or 
improvement. So a phrase is often employed in a manner which 
requires a commentary to give it significance in current language, 
as when licentious conduct is called “chambering and wan¬ 
tonness.” 

Sometimes this peculiar cast of style arises from using familiar 
terms in an abstract or mystical sense, as walk and conversation 
for actions or deportment. Sometimes a peculiar combination 
of words makes a sort of spiritual phrase.^ as “mind and will of 
God;” “a sense of divine things;” and when intensive expression is 
necessary, “a realizing sense of divine things” is extremely com¬ 
mon in the pulpit dialect. In some portions of our country, and at 
some periods, a great fondness has prevailed for compound words, 
such as “ God-provoking., heaven-offending., Christ-despising., land¬ 
defiling.'''' Some of these awkward anglo-ecclesiastical combina¬ 
tions have struggled hard for a standing in good style both here 
and in Great Britain, such as unspeakableness., worldly-mindedness., 
spiritual-mindedness. Men of correct taste will a thousand times 
rather dispense with all the advantages of these terms than mar 
their native tongue by multiplying such unseemly compounds. 
There is the more need of guarding against such terms, be¬ 
cause if they are formed from words which belong to the lan¬ 
guage they escape the reproach of barbarism, jmd therefore may 
be multiplied without end if the tendency of writers to these 
combinations shall be‘subject to no control but the dictates of 
caprice or affectation. The man who has the command of lan¬ 
guage may easily find other words equivalent in sense, or suffi¬ 
ciently so to substitute for such complex phrases. Instead of 
worldly-mindedness we may say attachment to the world. In¬ 
stead of spiritual-mindedness., a spirit of devotion., or a spirit of 
hadyitual piety. 

The same general fault in the preacher’s style may be increased 
by his necessary familiarity with theological writers of past times. 
The excellent sentiments which these often contain, expressed, 
perhaps, in quaint and antiquated phraseology, imperceptibly give 
a cast to his own diction, resembling, in its influence on other 


EABNEST DIKECTNESS. 


299 


minds, the stiffness and peculiarity which would appear in his 
ga/)'l) if it were conformed to the fashion of the sixteenth 
century. 


EARNEST DIRECTNESS. 

It is the province of poetry to circle round and 
round, exhibiting for mere entertainment various 
phases of a beautiful idea. On the other hand, it is 
characteristic of oratory to have an object in view, 
and to concentrate all its power on the accomplish¬ 
ment of that object. 

Hence not only the thoughts must be earnest and 
pertinent, but the language must partake of the same 
quality. Here is an indispensable requisite of a good 
pulpit style, and one which causes it to reject the 
indirectness of the essay and the circumlocutions of 
mere rhetorical embellishment. Hot only the form, 
but the spirit of the language must be direct, 
appealing pointedly to the hearer, and causing 
him to perceive continually that he is the man ad¬ 
dressed. A good portrait looks every beholder in the 
eye, and yet it does not stare. So a good sermon, 
without any rude appeal, seems to say to every 
hearer, “Here is a message for you.” Its expres¬ 
sions, as well as the thoughts it utters, find their way 
to his heart, and claim him as a trophy for the 
Gospel. 

In a high moral sense the preacher is a painter. 
His business is to spread out for the perception of an 
audience scenes of the past and the future relating 
to this life and the life to come. But in order to 
make his delineations graphic he must himself be¬ 
hold the scenes he describes with a clear and direct 
view. Then he can portray them with an expressive¬ 
ness that makes them real and present to others. 


300 • 


ENEEGY. 


Language is not only the vehicle of thought and 
emotion, but an agent of the will, appealing with 
persuasive and sometimes commanding power to the 
moral purposes of others. Earnest directness is the 
language of persuasion. But this language cannot 
he feigned. It must be the truthful expression of 
the soul of the speaker. As such it finds its way to 
the soul of the hearer and answers the design of its 
utterance. 


ENERGY. 

In this quality may be found the culmination of a 
truly oratorical style. 

It is the life of eloquence, that which gives it breath and fire 
and power. Without it the most finished rhetoric is formal and 
cold. The people love it, and it is for them we preach. It is a 
sign of honesty in the speaker. He would subdue us by a mas¬ 
tery he acknowledges himself. It is not he, but the truth, which 
makes us captive. He is but the instrument, though a willing, 
ardent one. Men have a strong passion for excitement, and 
energy always produces it. We yield more readily to sympathy 
than to logic or persuasion. 

It does not necessarily imply vehemence. There is energy in 
deep pathos, in simple description, nay,' sometimes in silence 
itself. Whatever subdues us makes us feel, impels our passions, 
has energy.* 

Well-managed dialogue, especially in argumenta¬ 
tive discourse, often imparts a life-like energy to style. 

Apostrophe, employed for a similar object, greatly 
stimulates the imagination of hearers by bringing, as 
it were, before their eyes the objects and characters 
apostrophized. 

To be energetic the apostrophe should appear unstudied, and 
from the impulse of the moment. It should be perfectly within 
our power. Nothing is more ridiculous than a preacher appeal- 

Bethuue. 


APOSTKOPHE. 


301 


ing in words to an invisible being while he keeps his eyes fixed 
upon the paper, speaks on in his ordinary tone, and perhaps 
hesitates until he turns the leaf. An apostrophe is better brief. 
It should very rarely be long. It is impossible to maintain the 
illusion beyond a few moments. The best orator would fail in 
continuing the effort. Some should never attempt apostrophe. 
They have not imagination enough to conceive it well, or, if it 
be conceived, not the voice nor the command of action to exe¬ 
cute it. Failure in either disgraces us. If we be not sure of 
success it were* far better to let it alone.* 

Even though successful, apostrophe must not be 
too frequent, lest it lower its own dignity and dis¬ 
tract the attention of hearers. 

Energy of style demands skill in the choice of 
words and the construction of sentences. iJ^o rules 
are suflScient to guide the speaker here. Sometimes 
brevity is needed to secure force, and sometimes full¬ 
ness to give the sweep of a majestic idea. ‘‘A brief 
sentence sometimes flashes truth like lightning.” 
But a discourse made up of brief sentences lacks a 
bond of connection and becomes a rope of sand. 

Well-chosen figures, if briefly and strikingly por¬ 
trayed, add greatly to the energy of style. But 
when a speaker shows a disposition to linger upon a 
figure and dress it out in too much detail, he wastes 
his strength and excites the impatience of his hearers. 

Energy should increase with the progress of a dis¬ 
course. Its rise should be natural, and its move¬ 
ment calm and regular, culminating, if possible, in 
unanswerable demonstrations and resistless appeals. 
Energy of style, as here recommended, should be the 
offspring of clear thought and true Christian feeling. 
As such it becomes a powerful exponent of truth, 
and never fails to awaken responsive thrills in the 
breasts of hearers. 


* Betbune. 


302 


CONVERSATION. 


Snell being the functions of language with refer¬ 
ence to sacred oratory, the minister of the word 
should cultivate its right use, and acquire the habit 
of its most effective employment. 

§ 2. Means of Cultivating a good Pulpit Style. 

A person’s habit of language is his style, and, like 
other habits, this is usually of gradual growth. In 
giving directions, therefore for the acquisition of a 
good pulpit style it is necessary to begin at the 
foundation. 

CONVERSATION. 

Here is the school in which our first lessons of 
speech are taken; and here, unfortunately, many 
habits prejudicial to oratory are acquired. 

Nevertheless, when one’s attention is aroused to the 
importance of a correct use of language, conversation 
continues to be a school invaluable for its opportuni¬ 
ties of practice. Whatever examples are 

Self-discipline. . , i ^ 

given by his associates, the person who 
would acquire a good conversational style must re¬ 
solve always to speak correctly, and to eschew the 
faults which he observes in the conversation of others. 
When opportunities occur for listening to instructive 
conversation he should be an attentive hearer; and 
in all cases where it is proper for him to guide the 
conversation in which he participates, he should seek 
to turn it to good intellectual or spiritual account. 
Whoever seeks by such means to improve the lan¬ 
guage of his thoughts and his daily life will hardly 
fail to succeed. 

The next step beyond personal improvement is to 
make conversation an agency of good to others, and 
to its use for this object there is no*limit. In ancient 
times “ they that feared the Lord spake often one to 


LINGUAL STUDY. 


303 


anotherand under the Christian dispensation direct 
religious conversation has ever proved an instrument¬ 
ality of good second only to public preaching. 

What is to be thought of the Christian minister 
who carelessly abandons himself to the loose conver¬ 
sational habits of the thoughtless or ignorant people 
that may be around him ? He seems to forget that 
by so doing he exerts the influence of a bad example, 
at the same time that he entails upon himself the 
liability of marring his public services by objection¬ 
able forms of speech. Ho person can expect to form 
a style of language worthy of the pulpit who does 
not flrst become critical upon himself and his most 
familiar expressions. Hot that the formalities of 
public address are to be introduced into conversation, 
but that every one contemplating the office of a 
preacher should carefully avoid those provincialisms, 
those inaccurate and loose expressions with which 
colloquial language is usually more or less corrupted. 

When, on the other hand, a young inan has learned 
to use language with ease and strict propriety in all 
the varied phases of conversation, he has established 
a point of departure from which he may rise to the 
highest power of eloquence. 

STUDY OF ONE’S NATIVE LANGUAGE. 

Obvious as is the necessity of a careful study of 
the elements and lexicography of his native language, 
it is sometimes sadly neglected even by those who 
have made some attainments in the classics. The 
study of the ancient languages lays the only true foun¬ 
dation for complete success in mastering the English, 
but it forms no sufficient apology for the neglect of 
close and protracted study of the English itself by 
the aid of the multiplied helps now accessible. 


304 


STUDY OF AUTHORS. 


READING AND STUDY OF THE BEST AUTHORS. 

Here opens a broad and interesting field in which 
improvement of style may be blended with the ac¬ 
quisition of knowledge. 

Ho young preacher should content himself without 
reading extensively those printed sermons which have 
come down from the great and good men of former 
generations, and he should prize the opportunity of 
reading, at least occasionally, the sermons of cotem¬ 
porary preachers. He should read, not to copy nor 
to imitate in any plagiaristic sense, but to follow the 
track of other men’s thoughts, to observe their lan¬ 
guage, and to expand his own mind to just ideas of 
what sermons ought to be or ought not to be. 

Indeed, this kind of reading, in order to be profita¬ 
ble, must be critical, and it must be lim- 

. Til 1 • o *1 Critical reading. 

ited to the best selections, bo vast is the 
extent of sermon literature at the present day that no 
one need hope to be familiar with any more than the 
best specimens of the best authors. But with these 
he should be familiar. He should so analyze and dis¬ 
sect them as to perceive their frame-work, and so en¬ 
ter into their spirit as to refresh and invigorate his 
soul. So far as he perceives them to be models of 
style he may safely imitate their essential excellencies. 

Such imitation,” said I^onginus, “ is not to be looked 
upon as plagiarism, but as lifting our souls to the 
standard of the genius of others and filling us with 
their lofty ideas and energy.” 

Great but mistaken are the efforts which some 
preachers make to acquire style—an elegant style. 
They read the magazines, they pore over novels, they 
study Emerson, and even Parker, not to speak of 
Macaulay and De Quincy. To such men the style 


READING. 


305 


of Barrow, which the great Pitt made his daily study, 
is a myth. The simple but nervous style of Wesley, 
the majestic diction and massive beauties of Pichard 
Watson are quite overlooked, while the inflated mag¬ 
niloquence of Bascom makes them stare with delight. 
As a consequence their pulpit style is miserably 
vitiated, and they become vain of its very defects and 
blemishes. 

The only hope for such men is in an abandon¬ 
ment of their false guides, and a prompt return not 
merely to good authors, but to the Bible itself, as 
the proper model for their imitation. Here, indeed, 
is instruction for the wisest and best of preachers, 
not merely as to the matter of truth, but as to the 
style of its communication. Here will be seen that 
perfectness of adaptation, that beautiful blending of 
familiarity with the loftiest dignity, the most power¬ 
ful arguments with the tenderest appeals; in short, 
models of style in all its varieties and its highest 
perfection. 

We are not to imitate even Scripture language in 
its minutiae, but rather in its spirit and tone, as here¬ 
tofore explained. 


WRITING. 

Ho person should trust to verbal practice, however 
extensive, for the formation of style. On the other 
hand, writing should be a constant exercise. Original 
composition on various subjects should be practiced 
witk zeal and industry, and followed with the most 
careful corrections and thorough criticism. The 
habit also of reading good authors, and then reproduc¬ 
ing with the pen one’s own version of their thoughts, 
is greatly to be commended. 

As the subject of writing will be more folly dis- 
20 


306 


WRITING. 


cussed in tlie chapter on habits of preparation for the 
pulpit, it is here passed over without further remark. 

It only remains to add that style is not a fixed, but 

a variable quality. Ho style is adapted to 

Adaptation. i ^ 

all subjects or occasions. On the other 
hand, the character of a sermon prescribes in a great 
degree the style in which it should be written or de¬ 
livered. Thus, expository, doctrinal, and practical 
sermons should be plain and didactic in their style. 
Funeral discourses should be characterized by solem¬ 
nity, and hortatory sermons by energy and pathos. 
In short, style must be the combined expression of 
thought and feeling adapted to occasions, and every 
preacher should feel himself called upon to cultivate 
to a high degree and for all possible circumstances 
the powers of expression which God has given him. 


POSSIBLE MODES. 


307 


CHAPTEH XIII. 

THE DELIVERY OF SERMONS. 

§1. Possible Modes. 

In public speaking three distinct modes are possi¬ 
ble. The first is a recitation from memory of a pre¬ 
viously composed discourse. The second is the read¬ 
ing of such a discourse from manuscript. The third 
is the extemporaneous utterance of language com¬ 
posed in the act of speaking. These several modes 
are sometimes blended in greater or less proportions, 
as in reciting part of a sermon and reading the rest, 
or in reading some parts and extemporizing others. 
The propriety of blending the three modes occasion¬ 
ally or habitually will be discussed further along. 
Our present task will be to consider them separately, 
remarking in advance that each mode has strenuous 
advocates, and some special advantages as well as dis¬ 
advantages. It consequently becomes young preach¬ 
ers to acquaint themselves thoroughly with the whole 
subject before forming habits which in after life they 
may regret, but find difficult, if not impossible, to be 
changed. 

RECITATION. 

On the supposition that a discourse is well com¬ 
posed and perfectly committed to memory, the speak¬ 
er can come before his audience with the advantage 
of knowing precisely what he is to say, and prepared 
to give himself wholly to the task of delivery and the 
perfection of his elocution. Hence in set orations, 


308 


KECITATION. 


and especially those which are to be repeated many 
times, this mode of preparation will enable a speaker 
to utter the most polished diction in the most artistic 
manner. These were results which the Grecian sys¬ 
tem of oratory aimed to accomplish. Under that 
system it was even customary for some of the great 
masters, like Isocrates and Demosthenes, to compose 
orations for minor orators to declaim. Recitation 
was the general practice of the most eminent orators 
of antiquity, although the most able critics doubt 
whether Demosthenes and Cicero recited their ora¬ 
tions word for word, since there are many proofs that 
at times they employed both words and thoughts sug¬ 
gested by occasions. Recitation has also been adopt¬ 
ed by many orators of modern times, including not a 
few celebrated preachers. Recitation may be said to 
have been the general practice of Roman Catholic 
preachers. 

We are now to consider recitation from memory in 
reference to its habitual practice by preachers of the 
Gospel. In this view it is subject to many and seri¬ 
ous objections. 

1. It has a greater tendency to exhibit the orator 

than to carry convictions of truth to the 

hearts of his hearers. Hearers instinctively 
perceive the difference between a discourse uttered at 
the moment and one which is recited from memory. 
The latter seldom if ever commands the same degree 
of attention or respect; while it frequently excites the 
suspicion of plagiarism, and the feelings of contempt 
that are cherished toward the finesse and trickery of 
art. , 

2. Except in cases of extraordinary memory it re¬ 
quires nearly double the time of preparation, and 
consequently must be an intolerable tax upon the 


LOSS OF TIME. 


309 


time of an j one who preaches often and with suitable 
variety. How profitless such a tax will prove is 
strikingly illustrated by Dr. Beattie, who in his Essay 
on Memory estimates that two days will ordinarily be 
required to thoroughly memorize a discourse; with¬ 
out taking into account the necessity of preaching 
two, three, or more sermons each week, as is the nec¬ 
essary habit of most American ministers. On the 
supposition that a minister has to preach one sermon 
a week, and that to memorize each sermon will re¬ 
quire two days’ labor, he remarks: 

Two days every week are almost a third part of human life. 
And when one considers that the sermons thus committed to 
memory are forgotten as soon as delivered, which is also a com¬ 
mon case, who would not regret such a waste of time ? At this 
rate, of thirty years employed in the ministry there are almost 
ten consumed—in what? In. drudgery more laborious and far 
more unprofitable than that of a school-boy, in loading the 
memory with words which are not remembered for three days 
together. 

3. Becitation from memory subjects a preacher to 
a painful liability to error and failure. Even the 
omission or displacement of a word will sometimes 
destroy the propriety of a sentence, and utterly con 
fuse a speaker. Such occurrences are not only pain¬ 
ful to an audience, but destructive of self-possession 
in the preacher, often filling him with exciting appre¬ 
hensions, which harass his nerves and unfit him for 
the proper delivery of his message by diverting his 
attention from his subject to himself and his fears. 
If the preacher’s memory is tenacious it will have a 
tendency to confuse the language of one sermon with 
that of another, or the different passages of one ser¬ 
mon with each other. Thus every additional sermon 
committed threatens a preacher of advancing years 


310 


READING. 


with an ever-growing incubus, and an ever-decreasing 
power to throw it off. 

4. Nothing so effectually as this habit cripples all 
power of self-reliance in circumstances which demand 
spontaneous utterance, and renders the before tri¬ 
umphant orator powerless in an emergency. 

5. This habit not only involves tedious preparation, 
but renders preaching impracticable in those states 
of health which forbid protracted application of the 
mind to verbal expression. 

READING. 

This style of delivery is peculiar to the modern 
pulpit and lecture-room. It was unknown among 
ancient orators, it was never commended by any cel¬ 
ebrated rhetorician, nor officially by any Christian 
denomination, council, presbytery, association, con¬ 
vention, or conference, at least of any high authority. 

Nevertheless, during the last two centuries it has 
been extensively adopted in England and the United 
States of America, the only two countries where it is 
known or practiced to any considerable extent. A 
historic statement of its origin is given further along.* 
The object of this section is simply to state its theo¬ 
retic advantages and disadvantages. The following 
ADVANTAGES are claimed in behalf of reading as a 
mode of delivering sermons: 

1. That it necessitates the habit of thorough prep¬ 
aration for preaching. 

2. It secures by means of the requisite preparation 
elegance and finish of style. 

3. It conduces to exactness in the statement of 
truth and duty, and hence is specially important in 
doctrinal discourses. 


* Vide page 824, also Appendix C. 


ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES. 


311 


4. That as compared with recitation it is a great 
saving of time. 

5. That it is specially adapted to relieve the fears 
and prevent the failures of persons of great diffidence, 
and also of those who only preach occasionally. 

6. That in many cases, as that of Chalmers for 
example, it serves as a wholesome check on extreme 
volubility. 

7. That, although attended with some disadvant¬ 
ages, it is, on the whole, a means of elevating the 
character of a minister’s preaching and of increasing 
the weight of his influence. 

On the other hand, numerous objections are urged 
against the reading of sermons: 

1. That it is a modern innovation, wholly inconsist¬ 
ent with the example of the Saviour, the apostles, 
and the fathers of the Church. 

2. That it is a “ supine and slothful way of 
preaching.” 

3. That the conflned attitude of a reader is incom¬ 
patible with the freedom and power of an effective 
delivery. 

4. That the occupation of the eye with a manu 
script deprives a speaker of one of the most signifl- 
cant and effective means of engaging the attention 
and enlisting the sympathies of his hearers; also, that 
the voice in reading can never be so natural or 
expressive as in free speaking. 

5. That even more than recitation it prevents the 
preacher from uttering new thoughts, or availing him¬ 
self of the inspiration of the occasion or of the Holy 
Spirit. 

6. That it is unfavorable to the highest degree of 
eloquence and of usefulness in the pulpit. 

7. That it is, in fact, no guard against indolence of 


312 


EXTEMPORANEOUS DELIVERY. 


preparation, but often tends to that by the necessity 
it involves of repeating sermons, and that without 
adaptation to change of circumstances. 

8. That it involves a great waste of time and 
energy by appropriating to mere verbal composi¬ 
tion a large portion of life which ought to be devoted 
to thought and liberalizing study. 

EXTEMPORANEOUS DELIVERY. 

This must be pronounced the normal method of 
human speech. Man is endowed alike with powers 
of thought and of utterance; and so intimate is 
the union between the two classes of powers that 
ordinarily one is regarded as the measure of the 
other. 

Circumstances of education and habit, however, 
sometimes derange the appropriate balance between 
these classes of faculties, cultivating one at the ex¬ 
pense of its counterpart. This fact is exemplified 
equally in the cases of persons who by boldness and 
practice acquire great fluency of speech without cor¬ 
responding knowledge, and of those who acquire 
much knowledge without the capacity of correctly 
and freely communicating it in speech. 

The only just use of words is to serve as vehicles 
of thought. A judicious advocacy of extemporaneous 
delivery must therefore always be based upon an 
appropriate preliminary education of both classes of 
faculties, as well as specific provision of thought in 
advance of verbal utterance. As well may a man 
who cannot construct grammatical sentences be ad¬ 
vised to write sermons, as one to speak extempora¬ 
neously who has no adequate thoughts to express. 
The quality of extemporaneousness, therefore, must 
be considered as applying exclusively to language. 


OBJECTIONS. 313 

It consists in the ready or instantaneous expression of 
thought in fitting words. 

The objections urged against extemporaneous de¬ 
livery are chiefiy based upon its abuses, or 
upon inadequate preparation for its success- 
fill accomplishment. The most prominent are the 
following: 

1. That it tends to repetition, verbosity, looseness 
of construction, and many other faults of style. 

2. That a ready .utterance of words is apt to be 
substituted for solidity and profundity of thought. 

3. That the confidence of speaking easily or flu¬ 
ently predisposes preachers to indolence of mental 
and spiritual preparation; in other words, to make 
extempore speech the vehicle of extempore thought. 

4. It is also objected to extempore preaching that 
it lowers the dignity of the Gospel message by 
making its utterance mediocre and commonplace. 

Intelligent advocates of extemporaneous delivery 
should never apologize for any such faults or abuses, 
but should rather insist upon that previous discipline 
of the powers of thought and of speech which will 
effectually guard against them. 

5. It is further alleged, with truth, that the excel¬ 
lence of extemporaneous preaching is variable. If it 
sometimes, under favorable circumstances, rises above 
a given standard, at other times it falls below. This,. 
however, is true, at least in some degree, of the other 
modes of delivery, since it often happens that when a 
sermon must be composed, the preacher may not be 
in a favorable state of health or frame of mind for 
writing; while the best written productions, whether 
read or recited, often fail entirely of adaptation to 
the circumstances of a preacher or his congrega¬ 
tion. 


314 


ADVANTAGES. 


In favor of extemporaneous delivery are 

Advantages. . . ‘j i.* 

several important considerations: 

1. As the natural mode of speech, it is that to 
which a speaker feels originally prompted and that 
which the hearer demands. 

2. It most readily secures and fixes attention. 

3. If preceded by suitable preparation it is favor¬ 
able to the most spirited, if not the most polished 
composition. 

4. It avoids the mechanical dryness of recitation 
and the prosy dullness of reading, while it arouses in 
the highest degree the interested sympathy of both 
speaker and hearer. 

5. It enables the speaker to take advantage of the 
thoughts and impressions of the hour, and especially 
of the inspiration of impressive scenes. 

6. It places him in the true and only position to 
receive aid from on high while speaking, either by a 
general quickening of his powers, or the special sug¬ 
gestion of thoughts or words. 

7. It is sanctioned and commended by the best 
examples of preaching, and by the most perfect speci¬ 
mens of ancient and modern eloquence. 

A COMPOSITE MODE OF DELIVERY. 

It is a matter of legitimate inquiry whether a 
preacher may not so blend the several modes of de¬ 
livery just described as to avoid the defects and 
secure the advantages of all. Without doubt some 
concession should be made to circumstances, and 
also to mental or physical constitutions. Hence any 
preacher who, sincerely desiring to make the most 
of his talents in the service of God, finds on careful 
experiment that either mode of preaching is bet¬ 
ter adapted to render him useful than the others. 


A BLENDING OF MODES. 


315 


should feel at liberty to adopt and practice that in 
preference. Whichever general style of delivery he 
may adopt, it is unquestionably his duty to render it 
as free as possible from objections. If he recite from 
memory he should seek to be able to introduce new 
and pertinent passages, or to omit those which are 
irrelevant, at pleasure. If he read, the more nearly 
his reading approaches free delivery the more effect¬ 
ual it will be. If, again, he practice extempore speech 
he should cultivate a terse and accurate style of dic¬ 
tion and solidity of thought, as well as warmth of 
feeling. While, therefore, circumstances may some¬ 
times enable an extempore preacher readily to re¬ 
member and naturally to recite some passages of his 
written preparation, so they may at other times sug¬ 
gest valuable additions to the recited or read dis¬ 
course. 

It must nevertheless be regarded as a general rule, • 
that any composite style of delivery will exhibit 
patchwork, and lack that symmetry essential to a 
perfect impression. On this subject Dr. J. W. Alex¬ 
ander says in his ‘‘ Thoughts on Preaching 

The whole train of operations is different in reading or writing 
a discourse, and in pronouncing it extempore. If I may borrow 
a figure from engines, the mind is geared differently. No man 
goes from one track to the other without a painful jog at the 
“ switch.” And this is, I suppose, the reason why Dr. Chalmers 
cautions his students against every attempt to mingle reading 
with free speaking. It is not unlike trying to speak in two lan¬ 
guages. It requires the practice of years td dovetail an extem¬ 
poraneous paragraph gracefully into a written sermon. 


ISTevertheless, it may be done, but usually only by 
those who have first acquired readiness and correct¬ 
ness of extemporaneous speech. 


316 


HISTORICAL VIEW. 


§ 2. Historical Yiew of the Practice and The¬ 
ory OF Preachers in different Ages and 
Countries in reference to the Mode of De¬ 
livery. 

If the present were a topic of ordinary importance 
it might he dismissed with the foregoing general con¬ 
siderations, leaving students and young ministers to 
choose between conflicting theories in accordance 
with their inclinations. But it has happened that 
on this subject, more than any other within the range 
of homiletics, different theories and divergent prac¬ 
tice have prevailed. 

It therefore seems important that students of the 
present day should be furnished with the means of 
judging for themselves as to the value of the lessons 
to be derived from the experience and discussions of 
the past. This indeed seems the more important in 
view of the strange constructions that have been put 
upon history by some of the advocates of reading 
sermons. Even the excellent Dr. Porter, of Andover, 
makes use of the following statements: 

How far the practice of preaching extemporary discourses pre¬ 
vailed among the fathers cannot be determined with certainty. 
Origen is supposed to be the first who introduced this method. 
This, however, he did not attempt, as Eusebius affirms, till he 
was more than sixty years of age, and had acquired by expe¬ 
rience great freedom in the pulpit. 

This passage would seem to indicate that down to 
the third century reading had been the rule, and that 
Origen at an advanced age introduced extempora¬ 
neous delivery as an exception. The same writer 
again asserts: “ Though there were in the primitive 
ages many exceptions, it seems plainly to have been 


APOSTOLIC PRACTICE. 


317 


the general usage that sermons were written.” The 
reader shall be enabled to judge of the facts in chro¬ 
nological order. 

1. Scripture history gives no countenance to the 
idea that sermons were read previous to the close of 
the apostolic era. 

From the earlier chapters of this work the reader 
will have learned in what sense certain worthies of 
the Old Testament are to be regarded as preachers. 
But who can imagine anything more absurd than the 
idea that Enoch, or ]^oah, or Moses, or Solomon, or 
the Jewish prophets appeared before the people 
whom they addressed with manuscripts from which 
to read, or even with memorized orations to recite. 
IN^o less absurd would be any similar supposition re¬ 
specting the manner observed by our Lord in his 
preaching and teaching. “ Then he opened his 
mouth and taught them, saying,” is Matthew’s brief 
description of the manner in which Jesus delivered 
his Sermon on the Mount. Equally significant are 
the words of Luke, describing our Lord’s sermon in 
the synagogue at l^azareth. When he had closed 
the book and sat down, and the eyes of all them in 
the synagogue were fastened on him, “ he began to 
say unto them,” etc. ‘‘And all bare him witness, 
and wondered at the gracious words which proceeded 
out of his mouth.” 

An examination of all the accounts we have of the 
preaching of those great evangelists Peter and Paul, 
as well as the other apostles, will lead us to a similar 
conclusion with respect to their mode of address. 
While we cannot doubt the anxiety of thought and 
study which they devoted to the great subjects of their 
Gospel message, all allusions to their preaching and 
teaching, whether among the Jews or Gentiles, indi- 


318 


PKACTICE OF THE FATHEKS. 


cate that they spoke off-hand, and were ever ready 
for a correct and forcible utterance of the truth in 
language adapted to the circumstances in which they 
were placed. 

2. The habit of exterwporaneous discourse was hand¬ 
ed down hy the apostles to their immediate successors 
in the ininistry of the Word^ and was exclusively 
practiced during the early ages of the Church. 

As a convenient mode of proving this, the follow¬ 
ing quotation is inserted from the Hulsean Prize 
Essay of 1858, by the Kev. H. M. Moule, of Cam¬ 
bridge, entitled “ Christian Oratory ; an Inquiry into 
its History during the First Five Centuries 

The early preachers followed, with apparently very rare ex¬ 
ceptions, the practice of extemporaneous preaching; understand¬ 
ing by that general term all kinds of delivery short of reading 
from a complete MS., or from very full notes. It was reckoned 
a desirable if not an essential requisite in a preacher that he 
should be able to discourse to the congregation on a part of Holy 
Scripture from the pure inspiration of the moment. 

Owing to the prevalence of this custom, we owe 
nearly all the discourses that have come down to us 
from the early fathers, not to their own pens, but to 
those of notaries, (note-takers,) or short-hand writers, 
who reported their homilies and sermons for the use 
of their friends and posterity. Of these notaries there 
were two kinds: the one class so far authorized as to 
be considered professional, the other consisting of 
amateurs, persons who either loved the Gospel or the 
preacher so much as to wish to preserve the words 
which fell from the lips of the latter. In the works 
of the fathers we find numerous proofs of the cus¬ 
tom of reporting. Gregory H'azianzen, in a sermon 
preached at Constantinople, alluded publicly to the 
two classes mentioned above. Gaudentius of Brescia, 


PEACTICE OF THE FATHERS. 319 

in a preface to liis sermons, mentions that the note- 
takers had inaccurately reported his words. Accord¬ 
ing to Neander and others the recensions found 
necessary among the homilies of the fathers were 
owing to the differences and errors of the tachy- 
graphs. A remark made of Origen by Eusebius, 
Book YI, chap, xxxvi, illustrates both the custom of 
preaching and reporting prevalent in the period re¬ 
ferred to: 

Then, as was to be expected, our religion spreading more and 
more, and our brethren beginning to converse more freely with 
all, Origen, who they say was now more than sixty years of age, 
and who from long practice had acquired great facility in dis¬ 
coursing, permitted his discourses to be taken down by ready 
writers, a thing which he had never allowed before. 

This passage of Eusebius is quoted in full, that the 
reader may judge of the extreme misapprehension of 
its meaning indicated by the language of Dr. P., 
heretofore quoted. The truth is, that a man who 
had practiced reading or reciting his sermons till he 
was more than sixty years old would hardly then 
think of learning to practice extempore speech. 
Whereas, having undoubtedly practiced that style of 
speech for long years, and thus acquired great facility 
in discoursing, he threw off his youthful diffidence, 
and allowed the ready writers to report his discourses 
for posterity, which would have been unnecessary had 
they been already written. 

If further proof is needed that the custom of the 
fathers was to preach extemporaneously, it is to be 
found in the character and structure of their dis¬ 
courses, which are for the greater part familiar 
expositions of the Scriptures, in which any other 
than freely-spoken address would have been out of 
place. Besides, they contain various passages which 


320 


PRACTICE OF THE FATHERS. 


owed their origin to passing events, and consequently 
_ , , could not have been precomposed. The 

ciiryBostom. following from Clirysostom are examples: 

The concourse of clouds (he says on the appearance of a sud¬ 
den storm) has made it somewhat overcast for us to-day. But 
the presence of our teacher, the Bishop Flavian, has rendered it 
brighter. For the sun, when he darts his beams from the midst 
of the central summit of heaven, casts no such light upon our 
bodies as the presence of paternal affection pours a brilliance 
into our souls, darting its beams from the midst of the (episco¬ 
pal) throne.” 

The fourtli sermon, on texts from Genesis, has in it 
the curious passage about lighting the lamps during 
divine service: 

Let me beg you to arouse yourselves, and to put away that 
sluggishness of mind. But why do I say this? At the very 
time when I am setting forth before you the Scriptures, you are 
turning your eyes away from me and fixing them on the lamps, 
and upon the man who is lighting the lamps. O, of what a 
sluggish soul is this the mark, to leave the preacher and turn to 
him! I too am kindling the fire of the Scriptures; and upon my 
tongue there is burning a taper—the taper of sound doctrine. 
Greater is this light, and better, than the light that is yonder. 
For, unlike that man, it is no wick steeped in oil that I am light¬ 
ing up. I am rather inflaming souls, moistened with piety, by 
the desire of heavenly discourse. 

Again, in the third homily on David and Saul, 
having perceived among the audience some persons 
who had attended the theater instead of the Church 
the Sunday before, he opens the discourse by express¬ 
ing his regret that he could not distinguish them 
with certainty, that so he might exclude them from 
a participation in the Holy Communion. 

3. The custom of reciting sermons in whole or in 
jpart was introduced jorohably during the fourth cen- 


EECITATION INTKODUCED. 


321 


tury. It was adopted partly as a means of a more 
showy style of oratory, and partly as an accommoda¬ 
tion to the incapacity of some ecclesiastics who were 
not capable of preaching edifying sermons of their 
own, but could recite those of other men. 

It is well known that some of the more prominent 
fathers of the fourth century took lessons in oratory 
from the teachers of their day, and studied the works 
of the Grecian rhetoricians, which embodied most of 
the learning then extant upon critical and literary 
topics. This was true not only of the pompous 
Gregory, but of the ascetic Jerome; while Augustine, 
both before and after his conversion, taught rhetoric 
as a profession. Neander thinks that the character 
even of Chrysostom was somewhat injured by this 
cause. He says, (Life, p. 7): 

The prejudicial effect which the prevailing system of rhetoric 
had upon him as a preacher cannot be overlooked, although in 
him, more than in Gregory Nazianzen, it was softened down by 
a Christian simplicity of character and by a depth of mind. 

Augustine, in his work on Christian Teaching, form¬ 
ally justifies the practice of reciting sermons in behalf 
of ‘Ghose who are destitute of invention, but can 
speak well provided they select well-written dis¬ 
courses of another man, and commit them to memory 
for the instruction of their hearers.” HeVertheless, 
his recommendation is very guarded. ‘‘They will 
not do badly {non im^probe faciant) if they take this 
coursewhich, however, he only seems to approve in 
view of the necessity of having the people instructed 
in the truth by some method or other. 

Having made this concession, he proceeds to illus¬ 
trate a more excellent way by admonishing the 
preacher of the absolute importance of making his 
21 


322 


CONTINENTAL PKACTICE. 


hearers comprehend what he utters, and enjoining 
upon him “ to read in the eyes and countenances of 
his auditors whether they understand him or not, and 
to repeat the same thing by giving it different terms, 
till he perceives it is understood; an advantage which 
those cannot have who, by a servile dependence on 
their memories, learn their sermons by heart, and re¬ 
peat them as so many lessons.” 

Notwithstanding these wholesome coihisels of 
Augustine, the habit of reciting, once introduced, 
spread widely, being fostered at once by the igno¬ 
rance of centuries following, and the decline of pulpit 
zeal and power. In fact it became, and has since re¬ 
mained, the prevailing custom of both the Greek and 
Roman Churches. 

4. Recitation has heen retained as the ^prevailing 
custom of the Continental Churches of different na¬ 
tions^ Protestant as well as Catholic. Influential 
efforts have been made from time to time in both 
Churches to induce a return to the primitive mode 
of free delivery, but in no case has the reading of 
sermons been authoritatively vindicated or practiced 
on the continent. 

Fenelon’s dialogues maybe regarded as stating the 
very best opinions derived from an enlightened Ro¬ 
man Catholic view. That work discusses but two 
methods of preaching: first, that of reciting discourses 
mernoriter, “word for word,” to which it opposes 
numerous pertinent objections; and, second, that of 
the speaker “ who fills his mind with the subject he 
is to talk of.” He says: 

In short, a man who has considered all the principles and parts 
of the subject he is to handle, and has a comprehensive view of 
them in all their extent; who has reduced his thoughts to a 
proper method, and prepared the strongest expressions to explain 


MONOD’S VIEWS. 


323 


and enforce them in a sensible manner; who arranges all his ar¬ 
guments, and has a sufficient number of affecting figures; such 
a man certainly knows everything he ought to say and the order 
in which the whole should be placed; to succeed, therefore, in 
his delivery he wants nothing but those common expressions 
that must make the bulk of his discourse. Do you believe now 
that such a person would have any difficulty in finding easy and 
familiar expressions ? 

In these views Fenelon practically followed his 
great master, Augustine, who having demonstrated 
the superior importance of subjects or things to words 
says: Let not the preacher become a servant of 
words ; rather let words be servants to the preacher. 
This is what the apostle says, ‘not with wisdom of 
words, lest the cross of Christ be made of none elfect.’ ” 

In our own day we find Adolphe Monod, the most 
celebrated Protestant preacher of France, expressing 
similar views, more tolerant indeed toward recitation, 
but with specific objections to reading. He says: 

If we read, it is almost impossible to assume a tone entirely 
natural; either because the art of reading well is perhaps more 
difficult than that of speaking well, or because the preacher who 
reads, when he is supposed to be speaking, places himself thereby 
in a kind of false position, of which he must undergo the penalty. 

He subsequently adds: 

Finally, will it be possible to avoid the inconveniences just 
mentioned, and shall we certainly attain a simple delivery by 
abandoning ourselves to extempore speaking? I believe, indeed, 
that this is the method in which one may hope for the best de¬ 
livery ; provided always that the speaker has so great a facility, 
or so complete a preparation, or, what is better, both at once,. 
as to be freed from the necessity of a painful search for thoughts 
and words. Without this it is the worst of all methods for mat¬ 
ter as well as for form.* 

* A. Monod on the Delivery of Sermons. See Appendix to Select 
Discourses, published by Sheldon, Blakeman, & Co., New York. 


324 


ORIGIN OF READING IN ENGLAND. 


5. The custom of reading sermons arose in England 
about the middle of the sixteenth century^ during the 
troubles of the Reformation. 

Bishop Burnet, in his History of the Keformation, 
gives the following account of its origin about 1542: 

Now that the Reformation made a greater progress, much pains 
was taken to send eminent preachers over the nation; not con¬ 
fining them to particular charges, hut sending them with the 
king’s license up and down to many places. Many of these li¬ 
censes are enrolled, and it is likely that many were granted that 
were not so carefully preserved. But provision was also made 
for people’s daily instruction; and because in that ignorant 
time, there could not be found a sufficient number of good 
preachers, and in a time of so much juggling, they would not 
trust the instruction of the people to every one, therefore none 
was to preach except he had gotten a particular license for it 
from the king or his diocesan. But to qualify this a book of 
homilies was printed, in which the Gospels and epistles of all the 
Sundays and holidays of the year were set down, with a hom¬ 
ily to every one of these, which is a plain and practical para¬ 
phrase on these parcels of Scripture. To these are added many 
serious exhortations, and some short explanations of the most ob¬ 
vious difficulties, that show the compiler of them was a man both of 
good judgment and learning. To these were also added sermons 
upon several occasions; as for w'eddings, christenings, and fu¬ 
nerals ; and these were to be read to the people by such as were 
not licensed to preach. But those who were licensed to preach, 
being oft accused for their sermons, and complaints being made 
to the king by hot men on both sides, they came generally to 
write and read their sermons. From thence the reading of ser¬ 
mons grew into a practice in this Church; in which, if there was 
not that heat and fire which the friars had showed in their 
declamations, so that the passions of the hearers were not so 
much wrought on by it, yet it has produced the greatest treasure 
of weighty, grave, and solid sermons that ever the Church of 
God had; which does in a great measure compensate that seem¬ 
ing flatness to vulgar ears that is in the delivery of them. 

The same author in another connection says: 


CUSTOM CONTINUED. 


325 


The practice of reading sermons commenced among us a long 
time after the Reformation, and its introduction excited general 
alarm, indignation, and disgust. 

During the reign of Charles the Second the follow¬ 
ing royal order was published against the custom: 

Me. Vice-Ohanoelloe and Gentlemen : Whereas his majesty 
is informed that the practice of reading sermons is generally taken 
up by the preachers before the university, and therefore contin¬ 
ued even before himself, his majesty hath commanded me to 
signify to you his pleasure that the said practice, which took be¬ 
ginning w'ith the disorders of the late times, be wholly laid aside; 
and that the aforesaid preachers deliver their sermons, both in 
Latin and English, by memory, or without book, as being a way 
of preaching which his majesty judgeth most agreeable to the 
use of all foreign Churches, to the custom of the university here¬ 
tofore, and to the nature and intendment of that holy exercise. 
And that his majesty’s commands in the premises may be duly 
regarded and observed, his further pleasure is that the names of 
all such ecclesiastical persons as shall continue the present supine 
and slothful way of preaching be from time to time signified 
unto me by the vice-chancellor for the time being, upon pain of 
his majesty’s displeasure. Monmouth. 

Octoler 8, 1674. 

6. Notwithstanding all opposition^ this custom of 
reading sermons has continued to a certain extent ever 
since, and has given rise to a voluminous controversy, 
for the marrow of which the reader is referred to the 
Appendix of this volume. 

Keaders of the controversy can hardly fail to per¬ 
ceive that the best of the argument has always been in 
opposition to reading. ISTevertheless, the custom has 
always found adherents, and that among the learned, 
who ought to have been most capable of dispensing 
with it. 

7. After three hundred years of discussion and ex¬ 
periment with reference to the adva/ntages and disad- 


326 


MODERN CONVICTION. 


vantages of reading^ the lest modern opinion is in fa¬ 
vor of the primitive mode of exteinporaneous address^ 
rendered^ however^ as nearly perfect as possible by col¬ 
lateral and auxiliary writing. 

The extracts of the Appendix are submitted in part 
proof of this important proposition. From them it will 
appear, that however much is conceded to the import¬ 
ance of writing as a means of self-culture to the min¬ 
ister, and as an agency for perpetuating ministerial 
influence through the aid of the press, yet that the 
most effective public speaking has always been ex>- 
temporaneous, and that every active Christian de¬ 
nomination of the present day is making strenuous 
exertion to induce its rising ministers to qualify them¬ 
selves for effective and powerful extemporaneous ad¬ 
dress. At least prominent individuals or periodicals 
representing the evangelical portion of the Church 
of England, the English Independents, the Baptists 
of England and America, the Unitarians, Congrega- 
tionalists, Presbyterians, and Protestant Episcopalians 
of this country, appear now to be striving with one 
accord toward the accomplishment of this important 
object. In all quarters it seems to be conceded that 
revivals of religion have been and are to be chiefly 
promoted by the extemporaneous delivery of truly 
evangelical sermons.* 

The Wesleyan Churches both of Europe and Amer- 

* Corresponding to these movements among the Protestants of En¬ 
gland and America a similar one is in progress among the Catholics of 
France. M. Bautain, Vicar-General and professor at the Sorhonne, the 
oldest theological school in Paris, has recently published an entire vol¬ 
ume on extempore speaking, urging its general adoption by the clergy. 
This indicates that the French are becoming tired of recited sermons. 
The American translation of Bautain has already been adopted as a 
text-book in certain Roman Catholic and Protestant Episcopal institu¬ 
tions of this country, and will doubtless exert a wide influence in pro¬ 
moting prompt and effective habits of eloquence. 


THE PRIMITIVE MODE 


ica have from the beginning maintained a uniform 
and consistent record on the subject. They attribute 
their rapid progress and glorious successes in no small 
degree to the blessing of God upon their consistent 
adherence to this primitive mode of proclaiming the 
Gospel. 

Our fathers expected to see men awakened and converted 
under their sermons, and the expectation led to an adaptation of 
their discourses to this end. A sermon that had not some visible 
effect was never satisfactory, whatever might'be the hope of its 
future results. It was usual with them to end the discourse 
with a home-directed and overwhelming application, and often 
to follow it immediately with exercises of prayer, that they 
might gather up the shaken fruit on the spot. Hence revivals 
flamed along their extensive circuits. They were workmen^ and 
workmen that needed not to be ashamed. 

Extemporaneous preaching was, until lately, the universal 
usage of our ministry. It was more than this; it was, as we 
have intimated, a necessary characteristic of the kind of preach¬ 
ing we have attributed to them. We cannot, indeed, conceive of 
the preaching we have described as other than extemporaneous. 
Reading never could be preaching, in this sense, any more than 
the letters of the one word spell the other. How those heroic 
men could have gone thundering through the land, prostrating 
multitudes to the earth, or melting them to tears, by the reading 
of manuscripts, is a problem which certainly no experiment 
ever solved and no logic can show. They would have been an 
entirely different class of men, and Methodism a quite different 
affair, if they had been readers instead of what they preeminently 
were—preachers.* 

Hot only the loftiest oratory, but the largest success has al¬ 
ways attended upon the speaking ministry; not only Christianity 
in its infancy, but every revival of it since Us first corruption 
made its early and only advances under a speaking ministry; 
and Methodism, therefore, which is the latest revival, and the 
recovery of the original ideal of this glorious work, has achieved 
its triumphs, and spread itself into if not over every quarter of 

* Stevens’s “Preaching Required by the Times,” pp. 131-140, 


328 


NOT TO BE ABANDONED. 


the globe, by following that style of speaking which the science 
and art of oratory, in their profoundest productions and most 
illustrious examples, have always recognized as based on the 
nature of things, and the natural tastes and judgment of man¬ 
kind.* 

It is certainly therefore to be hoped that with 
increasing facilities for education there will, by these 
Churches in the future, be no abandonment of this 
truly apostolic mode of preaching. Let the standard 
be elevated by all legitimate means. Let the pen be 
a constant auxiliary; but let the experience of the 
past be considered as having demonstrated this to be 
the most excellent way. 

* Tefit’s “ Methodism Successful,” p. 477. 


ELOCUTION DEFINED, 


329 


CHAPTER XIV. 

PULPIT ELOCUTION. 

§ 1. Xature and Importance of Elocution. 

Anciently the term elocution was used to signify 
style, and whatever belonged to verbal expression. 
At that period the term ^pronunciation was employed 
as the equivalent of vocal delivery. 

Even in the English language a similar use of the 
terms has continued till recently. Of late a change 
has become fairly established by which pronunciation 
is limited to the utterance of syllables and words, 
and elocution is employed to signify vocal utterance 
and whatever belongs to oratorical delivery. Accord¬ 
ing to the ancient nomenclature practical rhetoric 
embraced invention, disposition, elocution, and pro¬ 
nunciation. In modern phrase it embraces inven¬ 
tion, disposition, style, and elocution. 

In this sense elocution has been quite too much 
overlooked by writers on homiletics, and also by 
preachers. Indeed, some able writers, Whately, for 
example, have urgently opposed the study of elocution 
on the ground that it produced artificiality of manner. 
“ Be natural,” say they, “ and the whole end is gain¬ 
ed.” But their use of the term natural is equivocal. 
For man to be natural in the absolute sense is to be a 
savage, occupying but a single grade above the brutes. 
For elevated and cultivated manhood to be natural is 
quite another thing. It is to set up a standard of the 
highest excellence attainable, and to reach as near to 
it as possible by all legitimate efibrts and means. 


330 


ESSENTIALITY OF EXPEESSION. 


“It requires all our learning,” said Baxter, “to 
make things plain.” So it requires the best educa¬ 
tion to he natural in the noblest sense. It is a very 
inconsistent philosophy which would educate the eye, 
the ear, the hand, and the brain, and yet refuse train¬ 
ing and culture to the voice. Every true theory of 
education seeks to maintain a just balance between 
the powers of expression and those of acquisition. 
Otherwise the mind becomes a mere absorbent, use¬ 
less for any positive agency. If, however, a paral¬ 
lel cultivation is maintained, every acquisition may be 
employed for the good of others. 

The whole theory of homiletics presupposes this. 
It demands, indeed, a power of utterance equal to an 
Essentiality of effective cxprcssion of all the ideas which 
expression. Christian experience and intellectual effort, 
aided by the spirit of grace, may have furnished the 
preacher. With anything less than this his work 
cannot be accomplished. For moral ends superior 
knowledge and even divine truth avail nothing if 
they can have no expression. But while written 
words are capable of expressing both to the eye of 
intelligent readers, the voice is the organ of expres¬ 
sion to the ears of them that can hear. Who can 
estimate the value of the human voice as the agent of 
communication between the heart of the preacher 
and the souls of immortal beings? The power of 
speech, in close alliance with that of reason, distin¬ 
guishes man from all orders of beings below him. 
And infinite wisdom has seen fit to appoint this pecul¬ 
iar power as the instrumentality by which men are to 
be convinced of the truth, and saved from their sins. 

How, is any man called of Grod to preach the 
Gospel justified in so using or neglecting his powers 
of speech that they will be incapable of performing 


ELOCUTION EXECUTIVE. 


331 


their intended office ? Tliere is a positive sin in this 
matter, by which some men weaken their lungs and 
shorten their lives, and a negative sin of nearly equal 
flagrancy, by which others make their speech like 
the croaking of ravens or the cooing of doves, in¬ 
stead of that noble, manly utterance which is at once 
pleasant and powerful, conveying, not to tens or hund¬ 
reds only, but even to thousands, the overwhelming 
influences of vital truth. 

The voice, like every other power of the body or 
mind, is strengthened by appropriate exercise. Hence 
it is possible to make the work of preaching both 
agreeable and healthful to the speaker, instead of 
exhausting and destructive of life. One office of good 
elocution is to guide the speaker’s efibrts aright in 
this respect. Another is to secure the maximum of 
impressiveness and power in public address. In both 
respects its importance is inestimable. 

Pulpit elocution is to be regarded as the executive 
branch of homiletics. It is the divinely-appointed 
channel of communication between a preacher and his 
hearers. By means of a good delivery the preacher 
may apply the results of his own studies and the full 
power of Gospel truth to the hearts and consciences 
of men. For lack of it the best preparation may be 
rendered nugatory, and the Gospel itself a subject 
of scoffing and reproach. The proper office of a book 
like the present is rather to indicate the nature and 
breadth of the subject of elocution than to elaborate 
its details. Fortunately, there is no lack of element¬ 
ary works or of good instructors at the present day, 
by whose aid correct principles and practice may be 
acquired. Ministers of the Gospel, however, should 
not content themselves with the routine of class- 
instruction, or with the mere perusal of text-books. 


332 


FAULTS TO BE AVOIDED. 


Securing all tlie valuable aid they can from such 
sources, they should enter upon a well-planned and 
far-reaching course of self-discipline, aiming at the 
highest excellence, and not being content to stop 
short of it. If tempted to flag in the pursuit, let 
them remember Demosthenes. In the flrst instance 
they should aim to secure just views of the subject 
in its various relations, remembering that instead of 
being confined to the mere cultivation of the voice, it 
requires the enlistment and subjection of every noble 
power of manhood to the one idea of expression. 

§ 2. Faults to be Avoided. 

In considering this subject it is well to be ad¬ 
monished of some of the leading faults of manner 
against which the minister should be on his guard. 

AWK W ARDITESS. 

It is always distressing to an intelligent audience to 
witness clumsy movements, awkward gestures, or any 
species of ungainliness in manner on the part of a 
speaker, and especially of a preacher. The publicity 
of his office makes him the observed of all observers, 
and there are seldom wanting those who are glad to 
be relieved of attention to important subjects by any¬ 
thing so legitimately within their field of criticism. 
Besides, it is usually understood that the refining in¬ 
fluences of education and religion should elevate the 
preacher above this fault, or any special liability to it. 

CARELESSNESS. 

Whether real or affected, careless actions or modes 
of speech are a great fault in public speakers, and 
especially in the pulpit. They belong properly to 
the clown, never to the orator. They usually excite 


FAULTS TO BE AVOIDED. 


333 


the disgust of hearers, who can never bear to be 
trifled with. Whatever apology may be offered for 
awkwardness, carelessness in a preacher, whether in 
reference to pronunciation, verbiage, statements, or 
general demeanor, admits of none. 

HAUGHTmESS AND HAESHNESS. 

The first of these faults pertains to manner and 
bearing, the second to speech. The one indicates an 
evil heart, the other a vicious or uncontrolled tem¬ 
per. And yet they unfortunately attach themselves 
to some preachers to an extent which greatly preju¬ 
dices the effect of their ministrations. 

I^’o men have greater need than ministers to wish 
to “ see themselves as others see themand in order 
to do so as much as possible they should look often 
into the Gospel glass, and also elicit from capable 
and judicious friends, at proper times, free and candid 
criticisms. 

EOEMALITT. 

It is possible, in the endeavor to avoid awkward¬ 
ness and carelessness, to go to an extreme of precise¬ 
ness which appears stiff and artificial. Formality 
suggests to an audience that a speaker thinks more of 
himself than of his message. It is a scabbard on the 
sword of the Spirit; it is a cloak of tinsel thrown 
over the offensive armor of a Christian warrior, and 
should be put off as sure to embarrass the freedom 
and power of his movements. 

LEVITY. 

Some men have to struggle with a natural light¬ 
ness of character which greatly weakens their minis¬ 
terial influence, and often mars the propriety of the 


834 


FAULTS TO BE AVOIDED. 


most solemn services in which they participate. 
When such men find their way into the pulpit there 
is but one remedy for their tendency to make light, 
often unintentionally, of sacred things. It is to be 
found in a habitual contemplation of the solemnities 
of the sacred office, and in devout prayer for a proper 
sense of its proprieties. Minds naturally or by habit 
addicted to trivial thoughts and grotesque associa¬ 
tions will require persevering effort and great assist¬ 
ance of divine grace to avoid a lightness of manner 
which will greatly detract from the infiuence of their 
public addresses, especially in behalf of religion. 

MONOTONY AND DULLNESS. 

The former attaches itself to tones of voice, simi¬ 
larity of expression, and sameness of thought. The 
latter follows as an inevitable sequence. Both are 
offensive to taste and grievous hinderances to the suc¬ 
cess of the Gospel. It is a legitimate object of elo¬ 
cutionary training to break up monotony of pitch 
and of inflections, and to induce those variations of 
voice and accent which are necessary to express the 
ever-varying thoughts and emotions of the human 
mind. Activity of mind and vitality of Christian 
experience should equally break up and destroy 
monotony of thought and expression. 

§ 3. Excellences to be Acquired. 

Opposite and to some extent parallel to the above- 
named faults are numerous graces to be acquired, 
which belong to the department of elocution, although 
never developed in their highest phase except un¬ 
der the influence of religious sentiment. They will 
scarcely need more than a bare enumeration in order 
to be appreciated. 


A GOOD PULPIT ELOCUTION. 


335 


1. Ease, naturalness, and refinement of manners. 

2. Self-possession and serenity of mind. 

3. Gravity. 

4. Affectionate anxiety for the welfare of men. 

5. Deep, abiding, and powerful earnestness. 

§ 4. Means of Attaining a Good Pulpit 
Elocution. 

In order to the attainment of a good, not to say 
perfect, pulpit elocution, three things are necessary; 

I. Thorough mental cultivation. 

II. Systematic training of the physical powers. 

III. A proper discipline of the heart, resulting in 
a complete development of the moral powers and 
susceptibilities of the speaker. 

I. On the first head words are unnecessary. 'No 
man can be an effective public speaker who does not 
know what to say and how to say it. A vacant or a 
shallow brain cannot pour forth a stream of eloquence. 
Furthermore, no precepts can enable an ignorant 
man to put off the faults and put on the graces of a 
complete elocution. Most of the latter are only to 
be attained as the result of long-continued mental 
development and thought upon sacred subjects. 

II. Elocution demands physical training for three 
important purposes. 

1. The proper cultivation of the vocal powers. 
Although not all of elocution, this is a very im¬ 
portant branch of it. Language, as the medium of 
intelligent speech, has in the course of ages become 
voluminous and complicated. Whatever may be 
said of instructive capacities for conversation, it is 
unreasonable to suppose that any person can develop 
the oratorical power of a complete modern language 
without laborious vocal drill upon tlie elements. 


336 


PHYSICAL TEAINING. 


Here indeed is a point of vital importance, and 
one too much neglected. It involves the essential 
matter of complete articnlation, without which there 
can be no perfect speech; without which indeed every 
word spoken is marred and made an oifense to the 
ear. 

Happy are those who have not the necessity of 
remedying habits of bad articulation; still more so 
those who, by diligent and persevering practice, have 
gained such a perfect mastery of the elements of 
language as to use them with precision and force, and 
yet without thought or effort. 

From articulation the speaker advances to pronun¬ 
ciation, and thence to inflection, melody, and com¬ 
pass of voice. Since the publication of Dr. Rush’s 
great work on the philosophy of the human voice 
there have appeared various elementary treatises on 
elocution based upon its demonstrations, some one of 
which should certainly be mastered by every clerical 
student of the present day.* 

By the aid of suitable instruction and a reasonable 
amount of study and persevering exercise students 
may hope to acquire excellent qualities of voice, 
rapidity of modulation, delicacy of expression, and 
all desirable force of utterance. These attainments 
should ever be considered as merely elementary to the 
task of public speaking. But they should, by diligent 
training, by correct criticism, and habitual use, be so 
incorporated into the second or cultivated nature of 
the speaker that in the act of preaching they will per¬ 
form their respective offices without apparent effort 
or thought; so that the whole energy of the preacher 


* One of the best of these is “Vocal Culture,” by EusseU and Mur¬ 
dock, to which “ Pulpit Elocution,” by William Eussell, is an excel¬ 
lent sequel. 


PHYSICAL TKAINING. 337 

may be embodied in bis discourse, and in tbe act of 
its delivery. 

2. The entire physical frame needs discipline with 
reference to elocution. If the art of penmanship 
requires a long discipline of the muscles; if the 
attainment of any mechanical art, or the ability to 
play skillfully upon instruments of music requires 
years of practice, is it not preposterous to suppose 
that the proper bearing, attitudes, and gestures of an 
orator can be assumed without study and practice ? 

It is quite probable that in systems of gesticulation 
too great stress has sometimes been laid upon minu¬ 
tiae, and that undue importance has been attached to 
the finesse of a speaker’s manner; but even such 
errors should not become a pretext for the neglect of 
that legitimate training which may enable the entire 
body, from the expression of the eye to the posture 
of the foot, to become an animated organ of expres¬ 
sion, CO- working with the mind as promptly and often 
as powerfully as the voice itself. 

3. Proper physical training with reference to health 
and vigor is essential to freshness and power of elocu¬ 
tion. Our fathers obtained it in their long rides on 
horseback, and in occasional manual labor, more ef¬ 
fectually than do their sons in the best appointed gym¬ 
nasia. Nevertheless, if gymnastic exercises are neces¬ 
sary as a means of strengthening the body or the voice 
let them be practiced diligently. In some form let 
the prevailing tendencies of sedentary life to languor 
and feebleness be broken up. Otherwise a brief and 
feeble ministry will be the most that can be hoped 
for as the sequel of any form or degree of preparation. 

Proper and persevering exercise has often been the 
means of arresting disease and prolonging life. If in 
every case it cannot do this, yet the certainty of its 
22 


338 


MOKAL DISCIPLINE. 


increasing the muscular power of the system, and 
adding to the prospects of life and usefulness, is suffi¬ 
cient to enjoin its systematic and constant practice 
upon any minister of the Gospel. 

Ministers, therefore, should endeavor in their plans 
of exercise to provide for attaining simultaneously all 
three of the objects named above. The practice of 
vocal music, of reading aloud, of declaiming to woods 
and shores, of gesticulating with the ax, saw, or hoe, 
and any other means of economizing time or utilizing 
energy, may be profitable if intelligently directed to 
the attainment of the objects now recommended. 
But with all its advantages for such purposes, 
when governed by a holy motive, bodily exercise 
will profit but little toward the sublime ends of the 
Gospel ministry without a corresponding cultivation 
of the moral nature. 

"Whatever may be true of secular oratory, pulpit 
elocution demands, 

III. A proper discipline of the heart as an essential 
means of developing the moral power of the preacher. 
It may not be usual to insist upon this fact in this 
connection, yet reflection will show that the connec-" 
tion is legitimate. Of what avail are intellectual at¬ 
tainments, and all the external graces of the orator 
toward communicating the peculiar ideas of religion, 
if unaccompanied by a true spiritual discernment? 
hTo man can express that which he does not know. 

“ But the natural man receiveth not the things of 
the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him : 
neither can he know them, because they are spirit¬ 
ually discerned.” 1 Cor. ii, 14. 

Here, then, is a necessity never to be overlooked. 
Heugious expe- inherent in the primary design of 

rienc0. preaching, and must be kept in view in 


RELIGIOUS EXPERIENCE. 


339 


every form of preparation. The preacher must first 
have learned ‘‘ the joyful sound ” of the Gospel. His 
own moral susceptibilities must have been awakened 
by its thrill; otherwise, though desiring to be a 
teacher of the law, he will understand neither what 
he says nor whereof he affirms. 

Equally incapable will he be of reaching the hearts 
and consciences of other men if his own moral pow¬ 
ers are not quickened by the truth of God. While, 
therefore, a true religious experience is to be com¬ 
mended on vastly higher grounds than those of elocu¬ 
tionary necessity, yet it is proper to urge it even on 
this ground as indispensable to the preacher of the 
word. Such an experience will lend a charm to 
every species of toil necessary to the accomplishment 
of its longings. It will impart additional graceful¬ 
ness to every movement of the frame, a higher signif¬ 
icance to every expression of the countenance, and a 
greater weight to every word of the lips. Thus it is 
that a deep and lively religious experience becomes 
the crowning grace of pulpit elocution. 

Happily, therefore, may the grand essentials of 
spiritual life and: progress be made tributary to fhe 
glorious object of proclaiming the unsearchable riches 
of Christ to a perishing world. 


340 


IMPORTANCE OF RIGHT VIEWS. 


CHAPTEE XV. 

HABITS OF PREPARATION FOR PREACHING. 

IMPOETANCE OP EIGHT VIEWS. 

Eight views of this subject must ever be of the 
greatest importance to ministers, and especially to those 
who are near the commencement of their public ca¬ 
reer. It has sometimes been supposed that the advo¬ 
cates of extemporaneous delivery disclaim the neces¬ 
sity of any preparation for preaching. On the other 
hand, they urge not only that preparation is important, 
but that the very best kind of preparation should be 
ascertained and laboriously practiced. 

It is but just to concede excellence to a variety of 
modes; hence the preacher should be able so far to 
understand them all as to determine in any given case 
which is best. 

Xot only in the pulpit, but in preparation for its 
individuauty dutios, ministers should recognize and iu- 

Bhouldbemain- . .t.tt. 

tained. diciously Cultivate individuality ot char¬ 

acter. There are infinite diversities of pulpit gifts, 
and nearly equal differences of administrations, for the 
same spiritual result. It is extremely interesting to 
study the varieties of human talent as applied to this 
one great business of preaching. There is scarcely 
an object of beauty or sublimity in nature which has 
not its counterpart in the varied phases of human 
eloquence. The balmy zephyr, the rushing storm, 
the murmuring brook, the raging cataract, the modest 
violet, the stately oak, the refreshing dew, the rolling 
ocean, the sunlight and the darkness, each, all, have 


PEELIMINAEY PEEPAEATION. 


341 


their place in the gentle offices or the grand move¬ 
ments of the material universe. So in the world of 
mind, God has given talents which in their appropri¬ 
ate action create influences as varied and yet as 
useful in their several spheres. 

Inherently wrong, therefore, would he any system 
which should seek to recast all varieties of talent in 
one mould, or to reduce all preaching or preparation 
to a flxed and unalterable style. Nevertheless, there 
are certain great principles not to he lost sight of, 
and within the range of which all varieties of talent 
have ample room for the most efficient action. 

Viewing this subject in a broader aspect than that 
presented in chapter six, preparation for preaching 
may be said to be of three kinds, preliminary, gene¬ 
ral, and special. 

§ 1. Peeliminaey Peepaeation is of two Kinds, 
Moeal and Educational. 

1. Moral preparation, which can hardly be insisted 
on too urgently or too frequently, includes the follow¬ 
ing essentials: 

1. ) A genuine conversion. 

2. ) An established religious life. 

3. ) A personal call of the Holy Ghost recognized 
by the Church. 

' These are important preliminaries, but prelimina¬ 
ries only. God performs his work, but leaves man to 
do his own. It may be regarded as an invariable 
rule that God never calls men to the ministry who 
have not talent sufficient for the discharge of its 
duties. But the duty of cultivating that talent is left 
with themselves. Neglect or misappropriation of 
their talents may neutralize their call and render 
them unfit for the work. 


342 


PRELIMINAKY PREPARATION. 


2. Educational preparation. Whatever of general 
education may have been previously secured should 
now he consecrated to the special service of th« divine 
Master, and all practicable efforts for attaining more 
should be resolved upon in the strength of grace. 
Thenceforth life and all its energies should be regard¬ 
ed as subject to the one controlling purpose of pre¬ 
paring imthe most effectual manner to be a herald of 
God’s truth. 

It should be accepted as a primary principle 
that the minister of the Gospel must surpass in 
educational acquirements the community to which 
he may be called to minister, and this in an enlight¬ 
ened age and country implies no limited range of 
study. 

Education, in the broad sense demanded by the 
ministers of the present day, should embrace : 

1. ) An ample course of mental discipline prepara¬ 
tory to the successful investigation of truth. 

2. ) Large stores of knowledge in the departments 
of science, history, language, and theology.* 

3. ) A special development of the powers of expres¬ 
sion, both by aid of the pen and by habits of free and 
correct utterance. 

It is only necessary here to dwell upon the latter, 
which has been extensively and injuriously ignored 
and displaced from its proper position. As a result 
of this error thousands of ministers, when they have 
thought themselves ready to become public teachers, 

* Often in liis days of most successful preaching, when next to his 
own soul his parish and his flock were his only care, he has been known 
to express a regret that he had not laid up in former days more stores 
of all useful knowledge ; for he found himself able to use the jewels of 
the Egyptians in the service of Christ. His previous studies would 
sometimes flash into his mind some happy illustration of divine truth 
at the very moment when he was most solemnly applying the Gospel.— 
Memoir of 3P Cheyne. 


MODES, OF LEARNING TO SPEAK. 


343 


have, in fact, had “need that some one teach them 
again which be the first principles” of public speak¬ 
ing. Kadically erroneous are those systems of in¬ 
struction which postpone efforts in actual speaking 
till the close of a course of professional study, and 
then teach the young preacher to confine himself to 
his manuscript until he gradually acquires confidence 
to speak extemporaneously. Youth is na- Po^er of ex- 
ture’s time for learning to speak, whether SSS eany! 
in private or in public; and any preacher who does 
not cultivate freedom of utterance, in fact who does 
not acquire a mastery of spoken language in early 
life, will strive in vain for it in later years. That ac¬ 
quired, the speaker has at once the basis and the 
opportunity for attaining the higher graces of oratory, 
and for advancing from strength to strength until he 
becomes a powerful preacher of the word. 

As these views may be questioned by some, it may 
be well to show how strongly they are supported by 
the advice and practice of the great masters in ora¬ 
tory. It is said of that powerful speaker, Mr. Pitt, 
of England, that no man carried to a higher degree 
of perfection the talent of using the right word in the 
right place. Having been asked. 

By what means—by what course of study—he had acquired 
that admirable readiness of speech, that aptness of finding the 
right word, Mr. Pitt replied, that whatever readiness he might 
be thought to possess in that respect, he believed he derived very 
much from a practice his father, the great Lord Chatham, had 
enjoined on him. Lord Chatham had bid him take up any book 
in some foreign language with which he was well acquainted— 
in Latin, Greek, or French, for example. Lord Chatham then 
enjoined him to read out of this work a passage in English, stop¬ 
ping, where he was not sure of the word, until the right one 
came, and then proceed. . Mr. Pitt states that he had assiduously 
followed this practice. At first he had often to stop for a while 


344 POWER OF SPEECH ACQUIRED BY SPEAKING. 

before he could find the proper word; but he found the diflficul- 
ties gradually disappear, until what was a toil to him at first be¬ 
came at last an easy and familiar task. 

!Not dissimilar to the above is the advice of Lord 
Brougham, written to the father of Macaulay, the his¬ 
torian, for the benefit of his son: 

The first point is this: the beginning of the art is to acquire 
a habit of easy speaking; and in whatever way this can be had 
(which individual inclination or accident will generally direct, 
and may safely be allowed to do) it must be had. Now I differ 
from all other doctors of rhetoric in this: I say, let him first of 
all learn to speak easily and fluently, as well and as sensibly as 
he can, no doubt, but at any rate let him learn to speak. This 
is to eloquence or good public speaking what the being able to 
talk, in a child, is to correct grammatical speech. It is the requi¬ 
site foundation, and on it you must build. Moreover, it can only 
be acquired young; therefore let it by all means, and at any sac¬ 
rifice, be gotten hold of forthwith. 

Henry Clay, the celebrated orator of the American ' 
Senate, near the close of his public career stated that 
his attainments in the use of spoken language were 
attributable to no ordinary cost in the way of labor 
and painstaking; that from an early period of his life 
he had been accustomed to the exercise of declaiming 
when alone on questions selected for the occasion; 
that he sometimes addressed the stock on his farm, at 
other times a tree in the forest. He urgently recom¬ 
mended similar efforts to young men desiring to qual¬ 
ify themselves for public speaking. 

Bautain reiterates this doctrine, as a few expres¬ 
sions taken from his pages will show. He says: 

If you want orators you must teach them how to speak. . . 

To know how to speak, you must first know how to think and 
also to write. 


POWER OF SPEECH ACQUIRED BY SPEAKING. 345 


He urges long and repeated praxis in botli as a 
branch of preliminary education; 

There is but one time for acquirement, the time of youth. . . . 
In youth all the faculties are wondrously adapted to receive and 
retain. 

Fit fdbricando fdber^^ says the adage; and it is the same with 
the journeyman of words and forger of eloquence. The iron 
must be often beaten, especially while it is hot, to give it shape; 
so we must continually hammer language to become masters of 
it and to fashion it if we would become capable of speaking in 
public. It is not enough to learn the rules of style, the tropes 
and figures of rhetoric; the uge and proper application of them 
must be known; and this cannot be learned except by much 
speaking and much writing under the direction of an able mas¬ 
ter, who knows how to write and speak himself; for in this 
both precept and example are necessary, and example is better 
than precept. 

The reader will now perceive the absurdity of tbe 
idea that he is to become a speaker as an ultimate 
result of reading written discourses. Apart from the 
danger of fixing upon himself the habit of dependence 
upon a manuscript, and of fearing to face an audience, 
which that theory entails, there results from it an in¬ 
evitable loss of the best opportunity life afibrds for 
acquiring a mastery of spoken language. 

Whenever, therefore, a young man adopts the con¬ 
viction of duty to preach the Gospel, whatever may 
have been his previous advantages or lack of advant¬ 
ages, he must devote himself with iron will to the 
task of learning and perfecting the art of speaking; 
that is, of uttering thoughts in his own words. This 
task is not to be isolated from general education, but 
to be constantly blended with it, and to make prog¬ 
ress in proportion to all mental acquisitions. The 

* A man becomes a workman by working. Ergo^ a speaker by 
sneaking. 


346 


EXERTION A NECESSITY. 


Order of prog- ^iile sliould be, fivst^ acquiTe readiness of 
speech ; second^ correctness ; thirds force. 

If the student or preacher at first be too fastidious, 
unwilling, or afraid to speak until every word is pre¬ 
composed and every sentence pruned, be becomes a 
candidate for life-long hesitation and slowness of 
speech. It is better a thousandfold to acquire fiu- 
ency at the expense of blunders and solecisms than 
to have one’s speech drag and limp through fear of 
committing mistakes. But when fiuency is acquired, 
or being rapidly acquired by free and early elforts, 
then is the time for attention to correctness; and 
when fiuency and correctness are well combined the 
cultivation of beauty and strength of style appropri¬ 
ately follows. Let the tree be fairly started to grow 
before it is too severely pruned. But when making 
a substantial growth leave it not to the wildness of 
nature; lop its useless branches, shorten in its excres¬ 
cent shoots, and guide the nourishment of its roots 
where form is well developed and strength is wanted. 
The idea that a talent for speaking is natural and not 
acquired has operated very unfavorably to the culti¬ 
vation of eloquence. Many teachers and students, 
even at this day, seem insensible of the importance 
of systematic exertions to develop and improve their 
natural gifts for oratory. 

A common illusion on the part of hearers respect¬ 
ing the most perfect speaking, is to suppose that with 
little effort they might accomplish the same or even 
greater things. The work of the true orator is done 
so easily, so gracefully, and so naturally that the sup¬ 
position of laborious antecedent preparation seems 
almost impossible. 

In this very mistake, and the practical neglect 
which follows it, we may discover the reasons why 


MOTIVES TO EFFOET. 


347 


many who would become orators fail. Some on 
making the effort to speak in public become so con¬ 
scious of failure that they yield to premature discour¬ 
agement. Others are so readily satisfied with their 
own imperfect efforts, and so prompt to imagine them¬ 
selves either possessed of the genius of oratory or of 
the acquired ability that they deem further special 
exertions unnecessary, and consequently lapse into 
the mediocrity usually coupled with moderate exer¬ 
tions. 

Let it not he thought strange that well-directed and 
persistent efforts are necessary to the acquirement 
of readiness, elegance, and force in extemporaneous 
speech. Such an acquirement is not to be gained by 
idle wishes or faint endeavors. The modes of failure 
are numerous, the path to success is long and often 
difficult. But it is rendered attractive by the fame 
of those who have traversed it. Few, if any, of the 
great orators of the past have attained the goal of 
success without diligent and self-denying elementary 
efforts; and let it never be said that any one called 
of God to preach the Gospel is unable or unwilling 
to put forth equal exertions to attain proficiency in 
effective speaking. 

§ 2. General Preparation should be Continu¬ 
ous AND Habitual. 

General preparation differs from preliminary in 
breadth of extent and length of continuance. We 
must always be learners, but we must not put off the 
duty of teaching till everything is learned. The truth 
is, that we never learn so fast as when endeavoring to 
teach. We then see more clearly the object of learn¬ 
ing, and are stimulated to more powerful efforts. 
Hence, so far from considering his education com- 


348 


GENERAL PREPARATION. 


pleted, even by tbe fullest course of institutional 
training, the minister should regard his entrance 
upon public life as the commencement of an en¬ 
larged career of study for a special object. If he has 
profited rightly by institutional advantages, he has 
now mastered the elements of general learning. The 
whole field of knowledge lies mapped out before him, 
and he is qualified to enter where he may choose and 
cull its treasures for immediate or future use. Be¬ 
sides, as the boundaries of that field are ever extend¬ 
ing, he needs to follow them, and acquaint himself 
with the new territory which they embrace. 

The man who ceases to learn when he commences 
to preach will soon be like an unsupplied fountain, 
incapable of sending forth fresh and sparkling waters. 

The experience of the best orators and preachers 
the world has known indicates the necessity of con¬ 
stant progress in general knowledge. The circum¬ 
stances of different individuals may prescribe differ¬ 
ent means of attaining it. One of the most obvious 
and feasible is a systematic course of solid reading. 
Another is to maintain an active practice in mental 
gymnastics by mathematical or philosophical study. 
It is well, if possible, by a rigid distribution of time 
to accomplish both, and then also to derive similar 
results from intercourse with society and from wisely- 
planned habits of special preparation to preach, re¬ 
quiring a continual enlargement of doctrinal and 
exegetical study. 

§ 3. Special Preparation requires 

THE STUDY OF SUBJECTS FOR PARTICULAR OCCASIONS. 

Special preparation is demanded for each sermon, 
each occasion of public ministry. The time for such 


SPECIAL STUDY. 


349 


preparation may sometimes be very brief and the 
means inadequate; still it should be made, if only 
in the silent chambers of thought. Embarrassments 
from this cause will diminish in proportion to the 
thoroughness of one’s previous preliminary and gen¬ 
eral preparation. In fact, general and special prep¬ 
aration perpetually demand and involve 
each other. To use a warlike illustration, lations. 
general preparation fills the magazine, or stores the 
arsenal with powder, ball, and shell; special prepara¬ 
tion manipulates the cartridge and charges the ord¬ 
nance, whether with solid or explosive shot, or grape 
and canister. Whenever, too, for special objects, the 
shot require to be heated, that is the work of spe¬ 
cial preparation. While early years are the proper 
period for general preparation, yet at no period of 
life should it be neglected. “Never too old to 
learn,” is a motto as useful to the preacher as any 
other man. None, however, in advanced life will 
learn so fast as those who have been diligent students 
in their youth. Correspondingly, in reference to 
special preparation, it is absolutely essential in the 
earlier years of one’s ministry; and in the more ad¬ 
vanced periods, when possible, it is by no means to 
be omitted. 

THE CAREFUL ELABORATION OP A PLAN OP DISCOURSE. 

Habits of preparation for preaching should be judi¬ 
ciously planned and fully established. Serious mis¬ 
takes have been made at this point. Many have 
assumed that writing a sermon was equivalent to 
preparing to preach, whereas it is quite possible to 
write sermons without being duly prepared either to 
preach or to write. 


350 


SPECIAL STUDY. 


Most meager and defective is that theory of prep- 
iffere Writing aratioH which enjoins simply the selection 
insufficient. ^ ^g^t and then writing upon it. 
employment of the mind is more unphilosophical or 
more profitless than that of word-building or word¬ 
spinning without a previous acquisition and arrange¬ 
ment of thought. And yet the greater portion of 
some men’s lives is spent in this employment. They 
write in private and read in public, and imagine that 
because they write their sermons are better, more 
profound indeed than if, as to language, they were 
extemporized. Every one ought to understand that 
if choice must be made between extemporaneous 
writing and extemporaneous speaking the latter has 
decided grounds of advantage, since the presence of 
an audience prompts a greater activity and power 
of thought that can usually be controlled in the 
vacancy of one’s private room. 

Writing itself is simply the act of extemporizing 
on paper. In order to accomplish it with any effect 
the writer must imagine an audience present or 
future, and the sole advantage to compensate for this 
defect is the opportunity it gives for revision, enlarge¬ 
ment, retrenchment, and repetition in the best possi¬ 
ble form. But this advantage is very great, sufficient 
indeed to make writing an essential agency of prep¬ 
aration for every style of preaching. 

Nevertheless, a correct mode of writing will always 
enjoin a previous study of the subject, resulting in a 
logical plan. To either write or speak without a 
plan is to write or speak at random. Occasionally 
the mark may be hit, but usually the thoughts will 
straggle and words will lead astray from the merits 
of the case. Hence special preparation, alike for 
writing a sermon and for preaching extemporane- 


THE PLAN. 


351 


oiisly, demands a plan as an essential prerequisite. 
But the proper construction of a plan demands inven¬ 
tion, and disposition in all the penetrating and dis¬ 
cursive power of the former and in all the detailed 
comprehensiveness of the latter. 

Here, then, at the threshold is the great private 
task of the preacher. It is to study and master his 
subject. Agglomerating words, either by means of 
the pen or the tongue and calling them a sermon, is 
a libel on the name, and an insult to a Christian 
audience. Professor Park has well said “the elo¬ 
quence of the pulpit is the eloquence of thought;” 
and Baxter has with equal significance said, “ I never 
thought that I understood anything till I could 
anatomize it and see the parts distinctly, and the 
union of the parts as they make up the whole.” 
These remarks jointly illustrate the nature of special 
preparation. Its object is to enlist the whole energy 
of the mind, not only in analyzing the subject chosen, 
but in creating from its elements and applications a 
new organic whole. 

It is well in the outset to let the mind grapple un¬ 
aided with the subject and its difficulties, interpretation 
so as to strike out a new, at least an and invention, 
original track of thought. Until this is made sure 
of it is unsafe to go for help beyond the study of the 
Scriptures. The primary effort must be to learn for 
one’s self exactly what God would teach through his 
holy word. To this end the text, the context, and 
related passages may be thoroughly studied in the 
original and translations. There is danger in con¬ 
sulting commentators and authors too soon le^ the 
mind unconsciously fall into the beaten paths of other 
men and be unable to emerge into a true originality. 

But when an original and satisfactory plan is 


352 


TIME REQUIRED. 


sketched, all appropriate helps may be employed in 
its elaboration. The period of the plan, moreover, 
is that in which external helps should be consulted, 
rather than during any stage of composition. 

No one should commence composition while un¬ 
der the necessity of interrupting his own trains of 
thought in order to consult authors and read up on 
collateral topics. Nothing more effectually breaks 
up essential unity of design and execution. The 
mind is like the fabled chameleon. It takes a hue 
from the last object it touches, and hence may tinge 
unconsciously, but erroneously, its own creations. 

Ordinarily time is an important element of success 
in the meditative stages of preparation. Bautain 
has not inaptly likened this meditative process to in¬ 
cubation, by which the idea is made to pass from one 
stage of life to another, until at length, “ sufficiently 
mature to be trusted to the light of day, it will spon¬ 
taneously strive to break from confinement and to 
issue forth to view—then comes the moment for 
writing.” The same author says; 

In general one must not be in a hurry to form his plan. In 
nature, life always needs a definite time for self-organization; 
and it is only ephemeral beings which are quickly formed, and 
they quickly pass away. Everything destined to be durable is 
of slow growth, and both the solidity and the strength of exist¬ 
ing things bear a direct ratio to the length of their ic crease and 
the matureness of their production. 

Since time is usually necessary for the successful 
elaboration of the preacher’s plan he 
should begin in season. But it is not 
necessary to keep the mind in constant contact with 
the theme. Intervals of rest are refreshing. Besides, 
they enable one to approach his subject from differ¬ 
ent directions, and to assimilate to a harmonious 


THOUGHT-PREPARATION. 


353 


whole the divergent views which may at different 
times and from different points flash upon his mind. 

Dr. Skinner has with great truthfulness sketched 
the practical difiiculties which have sometimes to he 
overcome in this stage of preparation : 

With different preachers, and with the same preacher at dif¬ 
ferent times, there is great difference as to speed and rapidity 
in the preparation of the matter. Sometimes it is accomplished 
with a celerity almost equal to that of lightning. But generally its 
movement is a contrast to this electrical swiftness; often it is 
the extreme opposite. The first view of the subject is com¬ 
monly confused, chaotic, without the slightest perception of 
method or order; a process of intellectual gestation ensues, 
including deep, intense, protracted thinking; struggles with ob¬ 
scurity and confusion; with objections, with half-truths and 
indecisive arguments, with erroneous or false prejudgments, with 
bad or imperfect disposition, with disproportion, disunity, dis¬ 
harmony, complication in organizing the material. Such, for 
the most part, is the toil of preparation, the condition of thor¬ 
oughness and success in the work. When this is finished the 
preacher by examining it may anticipate the estimation of his 
pulpit performance. If he would therefore be sure of preaching 
well, he should be sure of doing well in the work of preparation. 
He ought to revise and scrutinize exactly what he has done, 
whether it was by the rapid or the slower movement. His swift 
preparations, especially, should be subjected to criticism. They 
may be less pleasing to him if he return to them after a day or an 
hour or two. Perhaps their rapidity was from want of breadth, or 
depth, or gravity of thought. But his most elaborate schemes 
may be susceptible of substantial improvement. After the sever¬ 
est labor, the best plan sometimes remains to be discovered*. 

Bantain compares the speaker’s preparation to the 
work of the bee in gathering sweets from flowers, 
first nourishing itself with its extracts, then digest¬ 
ing and transmuting them into honey. So should 
the speaker carefully digest whatever thoughts he 
may cull from the fields of literature in order that 

23 


354: DETAILED COMPOSITION IN WRITING. 


there may be a real transformation, and an oratorical 
production fraught with life. Another figure will 
illustrate the same idea. We may lawfully use the 
gold and silver which other men have quarried, but 
we should pass them through the furnace of the 
brain and bring them out anew, either in molten and 
glowing streams or stamped with a fresh coinage. 

DETAILED COMPOSITION IN WRITING. 

So far thought-preparation alone has been contem¬ 
plated. If words have been used they have been the 
fewest possible, mere wheels and fastenings of thought. 
There has been a calm confidence that when the 
moment for expression came there would be no lack 
of words; indeed, that the act of expression would 
call out words more pertinent than could be called 
up in advance. Such processes as these prepare, 
according to Bautain, a sort of oratorical form or 
mould into which the diction or word-composition 
may be cast by a single effort. 

The whole subject may now be summed up briefiy. 
Special preparation to preach consists in securing a 
mental mastery of the subject in conformity with a 
perfected plan of address. Where these conditions 
coexist with a perfect command of language and a 
right state of religious feeling nothing more is to be 
desired. But these conditions cannot be pronounced 
easy of attainment. Indeed, who can say that he has 
mastered any of the great subjects of divine revela¬ 
tion, or absolutely perfected a plan of discourse ? The 
])reacher will reach nearest those points who conceives 
most worthily of the greatness of the task, and who 
strives most earnestly to reach the goal of perfection. 

To this end, sketching and rewriting the plan will 
largely conduce. When that is done, and not before, 


ADVANTAGES OF WEITING. 


355 


writing the sermon comes in as an additional and 
important auxiliary of preparation. At this stage 
the act of writing contributes more than anything 
else to the great objects in view. It ten^s to com¬ 
plete a mastery of the subject, to perfect the plan, to 
insure a command of language, and, if rightly per¬ 
formed, to increase the religious fervor of the preacher. 
It is in fact only by this protracted labor, at least in 
reference to many subjects, that the preacher can 
secure in a sufficient degree the essential conditions 
of preparation. 

ADVANTAGES OF WEITING. 

The pen, though a simple instrument, possesses 
magic power. From the remotest ages its ready 
use has been regarded a high accomplishment.* 
Amid the changes of time and of society the pen has 
undergone fewer modifications than most instruments 
employed by men. The student of the nineteenth 
century, like the prophet of the earliest ages, has to 
wield the pen with his own right hand. The press 
has rendered unnecessary the toil of the copyist; but 
writing, as an act of composition, can only be per¬ 
formed by personal labor and fixed attention. 

From this necessity the chief advantages of writing 
will ever spring. Of these a few may be enumerated: 

1. Writing is a means of self-discipline and an aid 
to thought. Cicero understood this when he pro¬ 
nounced the pen “the best teacher of eloquence;” 
and Bacon also when he said, “writing makes an 
exact man.” To both these ends the preacher should 
school himself with earnest effort, not merely to 
prune and polish his style, but to acquire power and 
accuracy of thought. 

* See Judges v, 14; Psa. xlv, 1. 


356 


ADVANTAGES OF WEITING. 


By means of writing the thinker may draw the 
portrait of his own mind, may take the gauge of his 
own mental powers, and may map out his track 
through tSe fields of the invisible. He who pretends 
to think much but does not write is a wanderer, not 
knowing whither he goeth. His movements are 
usually fitful and unguided, or else languid and 
feeble. He essays to rise, but having nothing on 
which to rest for self-support, he sinks as often as he 
rises. Whereas a thought penned becomes a sure 
stepping-place to thoughts beyond. Ho man is safe 
in supposing that he fully understands any subject 
until he is capable of writing intelligently upon it. 
Reading and study accumulate materials for dis¬ 
course. Thought enables us to make them our own, 
and composition reduces them to a homogeneous 
form and incorporates them with our own mental 
creations. The pen is a powerful auxiliary in this 
work, enabling us to see what we do and to hold fast 
whereunto we have attained. 

2. The practice of writing is specially important 
to an extemporaneous preacher. It secures to him 
both .copiousness and reticence. It increases his 
vocabulary and teaches him what words to omit. 
Speakers who do not write almost invariably con¬ 
tract looseness and redundancy of style; whereas 
writing portrays before their eyes various faults, 
which when seen may be corrected. Besides, where 
one does not require of himself the habitual use of 
the pen, there is great danger that full and suitable 
preparation for preaching will be neglected. An oc¬ 
casional success in preaching without previous prep¬ 
aration, in circumstances, perhaps, when the use of 
the pen was impracticable, is no argument against its 
diligent use when it is practicable. Those who have 


PEKPETUATION OF INFLUENCE. 


357 


most thoroughly accustomed themselves to laborious 
preparation in ordinary cases will be best prepared 
for emergencies when they occur. Indeed, the great¬ 
ness of the work, the overwhelmingly important 
interests it contemplates, its divine appointment, 
and everything connected with the character and ob¬ 
jects of the sermon, demand for it the most thorough 
and habitual preparation which can be made. 

3. Writing secures to the preacher the means of 
profiting by his past labors. It is, in fact, the only 
means of preserving to him his own mental products. 
In preaching he will need from time to time to avail 
himself of all the accumulations of his mental activ¬ 
ity and labor in former days in order to give the high¬ 
est efficiency to his own present efforts. 

While no preacher should content himself with old 
preparations merely, every one will find j„stproviaionfor 
frequent occasions to use the result of his 
past studies if they have been diligent and successful. 
No one but a mental imbecile will content himself to 
be reading all his life the old, stale, and feeble prepa¬ 
rations of his youth. On the other hand, he who does 
not habituate himself to thorough preparation in his 
early ministry will never rise to the full stature of a 
messenger of God. But by a judicious use of past 
preparations, whether of plans or of full written ser¬ 
mons, modeling them to meet occasions that arise, 
and improving upon them by renewed efforts, a 
preacher may go on attaining an ever-increasing pow¬ 
er in the pulpit. Nor is it to be forgotten, in early 
and middle life, that feebleness and old age may in time 
be the lot of the preacher. Hence it is wise to make 
preparations that may avail in those extremities 
when mental power declines and memory becomes 
feeble. 


358 


WRONG HABITS OF WRITING. 


4. The right use of the pen in sermonizing will 
often extend the influence of the preacher, beyond the 
narrow walls of the church in which he preaches, to 
an unlimited field of infiuence through the press. 
Every minister ought to be competent, and to expect 
to have occasion, to prepare sermons for publication. 
Every one ought to labor in hope to leave behind 
him sermons or other written productions which will 
tell upon the destinies of the world when he has 
passed away. And it may often occur in the future as 
^ in the past, that matter well elaborated for the pulpit is 
already practically prepared for the press. The con¬ 
tents of some of the most valuable books in our lan¬ 
guage were first preached, then printed with suitable 
changes as to form. 

WRONG HABITS OF WRITING. 

The advantages of writing are sometimes greatly 
curtailed, if not neutralized, by wrong habits. 

1. One of these has been already censured, that of 
writing without previous thought and plan. 

2. Another is that of arranging patchwork, group¬ 
ing together scraps and extracts from other authors, 
or even from one’s own previous compositions, with¬ 
out the process of recasting and assimilation. In au¬ 
thorship verbal quotations are often necessary. In 
preaching rarely. 

3. Writing as a word-exercise, in which the pro¬ 
duction of fine sentences becomes a leading object. 

4. Writing carelessly, and omitting to revise, cor¬ 
rect, and copy. 

RULES TO AID IN FORMING CORRECT HABITS. 

1. Take time for preliminary study and thought. 
Ply diligently the rules for invention and disposition. 


WRITE TO SPEAK. 


359 


2. When ready, write rapidly and as continuously 
as possible. 

3. Let your whole soul enter into the subject, and 
while you aim at correctness, leave the finishing pro¬ 
cess to the period of review. 

4. Write as nearly as possible in the style of ex¬ 
temporaneous speaking. Dr. Skinner’s remarks on 
this point are excellent: 

In its ideal, preaching is extemporaneous as to its language; 
the extemporaneous sermon, therefore, abstracting its faults, is 
the model, as to style and diction, of one which is to be written; 
it gives command in the verbal construction of the sermon. The 
pen, in composition, should as much as possible do the very of¬ 
fice of the tongue in its unpremeditated utterances. It should 
intend the words it writes, not for the eye but the ear. The 
preacher should imagine the assembly he is to address present 
with him where he is writing, and make his silent sentences and 
words as a tongue or a living voice, wherewith he speaks to it. 
He must write in a style analogous, not to a miniature, but to 
the bold representations of scene-painting. He has lost the idea 
of preaching if he thinks it realizable in a composition suited pe¬ 
culiarly to the press. The composition of a sermon should, if 
possible, be made perfect in its kind; but its kind is its own, and 
unchangeable. The style of the sermon, like its matter and its 
purpose, is individual and unique. 

When it was once said in compliment to a sermon. 

It would read well in print,” a judge of preaching 
replied, “ Then it must have been a very poor ser¬ 
mon.” ISTevertheless, when readers have learned to 
appreciate directness of address, and to imagine them¬ 
selves under the sound of the preacher’s voice, sermons 
properly written will read well, though not as essays. 

5. Writing, as a means of pulpit preparation, like 
preaching itself, should be preceded by prayer, and 
conducted under the direct influence and aid of the 
Holy Spirit. Dr. Skinner again says: 


360 


REVISION. 


There is special danger of being unspiritnal in this part of the 
labor; the danger of the undue pursuit of ornament; of ambi¬ 
tious oratory; of going into a search for the enticing words of 
man’s wisdom; of depending too much on the sermons or plans 
of others; of being too speculative and abstruse, or, on the oth¬ 
er hand, vulgar and commonplace; of being only half or almost 
true; in a word, of ignoring the Spirit’s part in preaching, and, 
consequently, of abating the necessity and exercise of prayer. In 
writing, much more than in the preliminary labor, and than in 
extemporizing, the mind busies itself about the externalities, the 
outward investments of the matter. The expression of a written 
no less than a spoken sermon ought to be spiritual, but where 
it is the chief object of attention there is special danger that it 
will not be; it will be from spirituality in the writer of the ser¬ 
mon if the structure and tissue of it be not unspiritual, in wis¬ 
dom of words, rather than in demonstration of the Spirit and of 
power. 

6. The best written productions should be carefully 
revised, and, if possible, copied with the last improve¬ 
ments. Second or repeated writing is often more 
advantageous than the first. 'No one becomes fully 
conscious of the defects of his own productions until 
he has repeatedly revised and reconstructed them; 
and it should be received as a maxim that it is far 
better to write a few sermons well, indeed as per¬ 
fectly as possible, than to scribble voluminously and 
perfect nothing. 

7. In the second and subsequent writing, write 
plainly in a large and bold hand, with ample spaces 
for enlargement in future revisions. 

8. However perfectly a sermon may have been 
written, always revise it before preaching, and en¬ 
deavor to recall, not only the emotions which accom¬ 
panied the original composition, but, if possible, to 
improve it both in letter and in spirit. 

9. ISTever let the rereading of a fully written sermon 
be the last act preparatory to preaching extempora- 


DB. OLIN’S CAUTIONS. 


361 


neously. It is far better to prepare a new abstract, 
and to contemplate the sermon in its plan, not in its 
verbiage, lest the written words become an embarrass¬ 
ment to the freedom of thought. 

In the repetition of sermons every effort must be 
made to recover the original interest of preparation, 
and, if possible, increase it. Failing to succeed in 
this, it is far better to throw all previous preparations 
away and begin anew. Dr. Olin has described, with 
startling emphasis, both the danger and the sin of 
ministers arising from neglect of this principle: 

When their stock of sermons or 'plans has accumulated, so far 
as to answer current demands upon it, they make no more, and 
cease to be students. There is an end to all improvement, and 
they stagger on to premature mental decrepitude under the bur¬ 
den of these same four or five hundred stale, antiquated sermons. 
In not a few instances the victims of this stupendous ofiense 
against the human understanding, and the claims of God upon 
his ministers, reach their climacteric at thirty years of age, after 
which they neither study nor think, unless we are to dignify as 
intellectual efibrts the half hour devoted from week to week to 
conning over the well-remembered, venerable manuscript. Every 
one in the least acquainted with the powers and the laws of the 
mind is able to comprehend the stupendous folly of these men. 
The human intellect gains expansion and vigor and acuteness 
by activity. It 'must worlc^ or dwindle and starve. It must 
THINK—think habitually, earnestly, consecutively—or it will 
ere long lose its power of thinking. The perusal and reperusal 
of yellow manuscripts is not study. The recollection and repe¬ 
tition of old sermons is not thinking. The mind must do some¬ 
thing, must invent something fresh, must work and wrestle with 
new problems and deep propositions, in order to give hardness 
and vigor to its own sinews. The hand that wields the hammer 
or plies the graving tool constantly gains strength and skill; but, 
suspended in a sling, it will not be long in forgetting its cunning. 
The Hindoo devotee, who has been stationary ever since he 
learned to stand on one foot, has also lost the power of loco¬ 
motion. 


362 


DR. OLIN’S CAUTIONS. 


Onr objection is not to the quality of the old sermons. They 
may be very good, and theoretically very well adapted to the 
existing wants of the hearer. It is possible they are even better 
than the preacher may now be able to produce. All this may 
very likely be true, and yet they may be useless to the people 
and discreditable to the preacher; while very inferior discourses, 
fresh from the mint of tlie soul, and blazing with the fervors of 
an excited, laboring mind, will awaken profound emotion in the 
hearer’s as well as the preacher’s heart. Old sermons aie 
preached with good effect by men who are still in the habit of 
making new ones, and who keep their intellects thoroughly 
awake by study and invention. They then receive a new en¬ 
dowment of life and power, a new assimilation to the pious 
Spirit, by passing through such an intense resuscitating medium. 
Without this fresh, vivifying baptism these repetitions are, irre¬ 
spective of their intrinsic quality, the stalest and most unsavory 
of human performances. They remind us of the desiccated 
preparations of the botanist, which are quite bereft of all their 
fragrance and grace and charming colors, though one might not 
be prepared to deny that they still retain a measure of latent 
medicinal virtue. It may be laid down as a first principle, that 
he cannot long continue a useful, nor even a popular preacher, 
who has ceased to be a student. He must himself gradually lose 
all relish for the dry, irksome work of memory and repetition 
to which he dooms himself. However habit or temperament 
may enable him to preach with apparent warmth and vivacity, 
liis announcements of truth do, in fact, no longer bear the sanc¬ 
tion and indorsement of his own deep, living convictions; for 
neither reason, nor conscience, nor faith is much concerned in 
the reproduction. If this sort of work is distasteful to the 
preacher, it soon becomes loathsome to the hearer, with whom 
all such exhibitions pass for mere routine or declamation. No 
minister can maintain a respectable position, and satisfy the wants 
of an intelligent congregation, who is not a diligent student. No 
matter if he has a cart-load of prepared sermons, and they as 
good as ever Paul preached; he must bring out “ things new ” as 
well as old if he would make his ministrations either profitable 
or acceptable to the people. At least half of the sermons called 
for by the exigencies of ministerial labor should be produced by 
current efforts. To say nothing of doing good to others, the 
study and preparation of one sermon a week is no more than is 


THE PROPER USE OF PLANS. 363 

reqirisite for the best nurture of mental and moral life. The 
greatest boon that could befall many preachers would be the 
conflagration of their old store of manuscripts. Anything that 
should induce or compel them to return to studious habits were 
better than the mental inactivity which dooms so many good 
men to actual inefiiciency and superannuation, at a time of life 
when experience and hoarded wisdom should qualify them for 
the most extended usefulness, and the most salutary, elfeotive 
popularity. 


THE PROPER USE OF PLANS. 

So mucli has been said in this and other chapters 
on the preparation of plans of sermons, that the ques¬ 
tion of their specific use deserves now to he consid¬ 
ered. Are they to be taken into the pulpit as mnemon¬ 
ic guides ? As a general rule this question is to be 
answered emphatically in the negative. The plan 
as recommended in this work is designed to aid the 
mind in the mastery and grasp of the subject. For 
that purpose nothing is more serviceable than the act 
of writing, perfecting, and committing a well-digested 
plan. In this task ideas are the desideratum; not 
words, except as brief signs of ideas. 

Careful practice in this matter will give a preacher 
great facility in the kind of preparation so much need¬ 
ed for independent public speaking. It will enable 
him to hold his subject and all its details in a clear, 
mental perspective, and to be perfectly independent 
of what Bautain calls those “ wretched notes,” a very 
look at which sometimes chills the current of the 
warmest eloquence. It is better, then, to begin right 
by forming the habit of perfectly memorizing the 
plan and relying upon memory. The memory loves 
to be trusted, and gains strength in proportion to the 
confidence reposed in it. The use of a written plan 
in the pulpit invariably indicates imperfect prepara- 


364 


PBEPABATION TO BEAD. 


tion or timidity. There may be cases in which for 
either cause it should be allowed exceptionally. 'Nev- 
ertheless, the aim of the preacher should be to attain 
the highest excellence with the fewest possible em¬ 
barrassments. If any can succeed best in marshaling 
their thoughts without employing the pen at all, let 
them lay it aside till after preaching, when it is well 
to make a record of what has been thought and said 
in the pulpit. Plans and written sermons, therefore, 
should become mnemonics for future preparation, 
rather than for pulpit delivery. 

SPECIAL PREPARATION FOR READING OR RECITING. 

So far as the suggestions of this chapter relate par¬ 
ticularly to preparation for extemporaneous preach¬ 
ing, it is believed that they equally provide for the 
other styles of delivery. Where either reading or 
reciting is to be practiced, there exists a necessity for 
writing in full which is not known in the other case. 
Time must consequently be taken to put every word 
in its proper place, and to make the diction as perfect 
as possible. In the case of reading many have sup¬ 
posed that this was all the preparation needed, reai 
ing being a very ordinary accomplishment. Where 
this view is entertained it is usually performed in a 
very ordinary manner. 

f" Whoever adopts reading as a mode of delivery 
should feel bound to make special elocutionary prep¬ 
aration to perform it well, to read as freely and effect¬ 
ively as possible. -- 

It is said that the pious Mr. Simeon of Cambridge 
“ spent more time toward the close of his life in pre¬ 
paring to read his sermons with effect than most men 
bestow on the preparation of the sermon itself.” In 
this respect he did equal honor to himself and his 


PREPARATION TO READ. 


365 


audiences, and indicated to all readers of sermons 
their obvious duty. Whitefield, also, as a reciter of 
sermons, is known to have made laborious prepara¬ 
tion to secure an impressive delivery, and thus to 
have become an authoritative example for all who 
follow him in that style of preaching. In both these 
styles of delivery the elocutionary preparation must 
he special. In extemporaneous address it can only 
he general. 

In every case a deep spiritual preparation is of in¬ 
dispensable importance as a means of surcharging the 
heart with emotion, and the mind and the tongue 
with power. Continuous meditation, affecting views 
of truth, and much prayer for the influence of the 
Holy Spirit, are the true elements of this crowning 
grace of a fuU preparation to dispense the word of 
life. 


366 PECULIAE POSITION OF A YOUNG PASTOR. 


CHAPTER XVI. 

PREACHING AS A PASTORAL DUTY. 

The pastorate, in a historic point of view, may be 
regarded as the ultimate position of the minister. 
If he were alone as a promulgator of the Gospel 
he would need to go forth and preach wherever he 
could find hearers, and it would only be when he 
had planted a Church or Churches that he could in 
any proper sense become a pastor. But in Chris¬ 
tian countries the case is reversed, and young minis¬ 
ters are often, if not usually, employed as pastors or 
assistant pastors from the first. They consequently 
need to have in advance some just idea of pastoral 
duty and responsibility. 

PECULIAR POSITION OF A YOUNG PASTOR. 

The position of a young minister, entering as a 
stranger upon the duties of a preacher and pastor 
in any charge, is necessarily delicate, if not embar¬ 
rassing. He will consequently have need of great 
circumspection with reference to himself, and of 
anxious solicitude in behalf of the fiock to whom he 
is sent to minister. 

Without entering upon details, a few suggestions 
will be made as to his mode of procedure. His first 
sermons must of necessity be more or less general 
in their character. The question as to whether he 
should preach a sermon specially introductory to his 
intended labors must be decided by his best judg¬ 
ment of the circumstances. As a general rule noth- 


OBJECTS OF THE PASTOK. 


36T 


ing can be more appropriate, for tbe reason that the 
people are expecting and are entitled to hear at an 
early day a minister’s views respecting the import¬ 
ance and nature of his work, and that it is often 
better to declare his views on such topics in advance 
of acquaintance with local circumstances. Never¬ 
theless, it may sometimes be best to waive the for¬ 
mality of an introductory sermon, and to proceed as 
if it were unnecessary. Following either course, he 
must at the earliest moment acquaint himself with 
the moral and spiritual condition of his people, and 
address himself skillfully to its improvement. It is 
well to draw attention as soon as practicable to those 
duties which are of obvious necessity for the general 
good, such as that of attendance on the means of 
grace and of exertions in behalf of Sabbath-schools; 
but it is better to defer radical changes till influence 
and authority are acquired. It should be a rule with 
young pastors to make few or no changes in the estab¬ 
lished order of things for the mere sake of change; 
but if changes are absolutely necessary, let them be 
made with discretion. In all cases censoriousness 
upon predecessors should be scrupulously avoided. 

When the preacher has entered properly upon his 
work two great objects rise up before him: the 
edification of the Church and the conversion of the 
unregenerate. For these objects he should at the ear¬ 
liest moment make intelligent and far-seeing plans. 

§ 1. The Edification of the Chukch. 

I. The edification of the Church involves that of 
the individual believer, and of the Church as a whole. 
The great element of power here is the word of God. 
It must be presented to the people historically, doc- 
trinally, specially, and consecutively. In all these 


368 


THE EDIFICATION OF THE CHURCH. 


respects it has exhaustless variety and peculiar instrnct- 
„ , , iveness. It becomes the preacher to enter 

power. experimentally into its deepest meaning, and 
to set himself with active zeal to bring forth things 
new and old for the instruction, the encouragement, 
and the godly admonition of every class of Chris¬ 
tians in their various phases and stages of experience. 
This important work can never be so well done as 
in its appropriate connection with the demands which 
God makes upon his Church to be the light of the 
world. 

Great evils follow in the train of those views of 
the Christian life which countenance the pursuit of 
ease and enjoyment, instead of active and aggressive 
plans for the diffusion of truth and the overthrow of 
error. It therefore becomes all pastors of Christ to 
be leaders of his sacramental host, and to infuse into 
the breast of every member, both by precept and 
example, a holy enthusiasm to do God’s work at 
home and abroad. 

When a minister becomes fully aroused to his sub¬ 
lime responsibilities as the leader and guide of God’s 
chosen people, themes rush upon his mind with a 
newness and force of which he before but faintly 
conceived. Instead of being straitened for subjects 
and the material of preaching he finds his heart “ full 
of matter,” and burning with desire to deliver the 
glorious messages of salvation. In this frame of mind 
pastoral visitation becomes to him an agency of good 
only second to that of the pulpit itself. Like the 
holy apostles, he will not only preach Jesus Christ in 
the temple, but in every house; and in his daily inter¬ 
course with the people of his charge will learn their 
special wants, and the means of providing for them 
with directness and certainty 


MODES OF EFFORT. 


369 


Pastoral visitation is as direct a necessity to the 
preacher as to the people themselves. Without it he 
not only lacks the spiritual benefits fiowing from the 
faithful discharge of duty, but he must ever select 
his subjects at a disadvantage, and treat them with a 
vagueness, at least an uncertainty, as to their special 
adaptation by no means friendly to the efficiency of 
his ministrations. 

Let it not be objected that an itinerant ministry is 
unfavorable to pastoral acquaintance, and 
that consequently it affords but little ^ 
encouragement to this class of duties. The man who 
will not in two years, or even in one, gain an ade¬ 
quate, not to say perfect acquaintance with his fiock 
never will. Promptness and diligence in pastoral 
visitations will accomplish more in a short time 
than the opposite qualities in the longest period, and 
these are the qualities essential to success during any 
term of ministerial service. They should be brought 
into requisition from the beginning, and they will 
soon make the minister at home in all the homes of 
his congregation. 

§ 2. The Conversion of Souls. 

But at no period of his pastoral service should the 
pastor be indifferent to the conversion of the unre¬ 
generate. In order to this there must be great 
faithfulness in declaring the whole counsel of God, 
reproving men of sin, righteousness, and judgment 
to come; also pointing out clearly and forcibly the 
one true and only mode of salvation. In laboring 
for this object, moreover, it is important to study the 
characters of different classes of persons, ranging from 
those who are almost persuaded to be Christians to 
the opponents of the Gospel. Efforts made in behalf 
24 


370 


ENEEGY OF PUKPOSE. 


of these several classes should be discriminating both 
as to character and occasion. It may be adopted as 
a rule to labor specially for the most hopeful, but 
at the same time to neglect none. The minister 
should labor against hope, trusting in the power of 
the divine word and the promises of God. Preach¬ 
ing designed to benefit the unawakened, or partially 
awakened, must be accompanied with personal visits 
and private appeals. Direct interviews with indi¬ 
viduals of this character often furnish the most hope¬ 
ful opportunities for leading them directly to the 
Saviour; and it is by diligent efforts to answer the 
questions, to remove the difficulties, and encourage 
the hopes of those not yet born into the kingdom of 
God that the minister becomes more and more 
thoroughly furnished and specially qualified for his 
public duties as a preacher. 

In order to success in either branch of his labors. 
Mental and prcachcr must maintain in himself 

Bpirituai growth. ^ coustaiit mental and spiritual growth 
at every period of his ministry. In his second and 
subsequent appointments as a pastor he must not be 
content with the mere routine of the first, but seek 
to improve upon that with enlightened and studious 
discretion. To make each year an improvement on 
the last should be his constant motto and endeavor. 
With increasing experience and zealous effort noth¬ 
ing is more practicable. In a settled pastorate this 
is absolutely essential to success; and in the itiner¬ 
ancy it is no less desirable, although a failure may 
be less obvious. It is precisely at this point that 
one of the most serious objections is made against 
the system of itinerancy. It is urged that its tend¬ 
ency is to induce mediocrity of ministerial develop¬ 
ment, a satisfaction on the part of the minister him- 


ENERGY OF PURPOSE. 


371 


self, when he has prepared a number of sermons 
sufficient to eke out twp successive years, which 
causes him to abandon further habits of diligent study 
and laborious preparation. This cannot be admitted 
as a legitimate tendency of the system, although it 
may be true that many individuals under the system 
have fallen into indolent habits, as is doubtless the 
case under other systems. Of course any man who 
adopts such views and practice must soon become 
dwarfed in mind and feeble in influence. It is there¬ 
fore of unspeakable importance for a young minister 
to set himself resolutely against every tendency and 
temptation to relax his efforts with his advancing 
experience in preaching. If itinerant ministers have 
special temptations to fall into a routine of Avoid 
pulpit labors, which, however new to strange 
people, must become monotonous to themselves, let 
them set a double guard against any influence, how¬ 
ever insidious, that might lead them to a loss of power 
or vitality in their pastoral ministrations. On the 
other hand, let them be diligent to seize upon the 
advantages which enlarged observation and a wider 
acquaintance with men and society may enable them 
to derive from systematic changes as an auxiliary to 
ever-growing power in the pulpit. 

That such a result may be attained by an active 
mind and an energetic purpose is certain, cherish the 
But in order to it high ground must be 
taken and maintained from the flrst. The preacher 
must never content himself with the present interest 
and satisfaction of his audience, but must aim by 
study and labor to cultivate an ever-growing interest 
in his duties. He must lift his people above the 
idea of going to church because it is a duty; he 
must create an attraction for them so that they will 


372 


EKEKGY OF PURPOSE. 


hunger and thirst for the word as for their daily 
food. Under the steady and powerful influence of 
a ministry that rises to this grand ideal, the rage for 
novelty and extravagance passes away like the dew 
of the morning before the rising sun. 

Such a ministry will neither have occasion nor tol¬ 
erance for self-repetition and spiritless efforts, but will 
go on from strength to strength, flnding favor both 
with God and man. 


MISSIONARY LABOR. 


373 


CHAPTEE XVIL 

PREACHING AS A MISSIONARY DUTY. 

PECULIARITIES OF MISSIONARY LABOR. 

The position of a Christian missionary has these 
peculiarities as compared with that of a pastor: 

1. He has no church to receive him. 

2. Often no congregation to hear him. 

3. Ho people to sympathize with him. 

He has uniformly to encounter the natural opposi¬ 
tion of the human heart to truth; and usually the 
accumulated obstacles of ignorance, prejudice, and 
vicious customs. 

Sometimes systematic and organized heathenism 
or infidelity confront him, intrenched behind the 
institutions of ages. 

The great work of the foreign missionary must be 
directed, 

1. To arouse attention. 

2. To remove error. 

3. To overcome superstition; and, 

4. To spread the truth of God. 

This is a work of extreme difficulty, not only owing 
to the circumstances of the people, but also to the 
embarrassments of the missionary as a foreigner but 
imperfectly speaking their language. Moreover, he 
can have but brief access to the subjects of his labors, 
and usually in very unfavorable circumstances. They 
have no Sabbath; he cannot visit them at their homes, 
and must consequently address them in highways, in 
market-places, and at heathen festivals. 


374 


DOMESTIC MISSIONS. 


It would be interesting and appropriate, did space 
allow, to present the peculiarities of missionary labor 
in Africa, in India, in China, and other countries. 
But it can only be remarked in passing, that curiosity 
is the great principle upon which the missionary is 
compelled to seize as a means of arousing and guid¬ 
ing attention to religious truth. 

The object of this chapter is to point out the nature 
of mission work in Christian lands. 

The field of domestic missions in the United States 
extends from the moral deserts of our large cities to 
the sparsely-settled districts of the remotest frontier. 
Domeatic mis- ^ deserved prominence has been given of 
Sion fields. yg^rs to city missions, and to evangel¬ 

ical labors in behalf of those degraded classes usually 
found in all great centers of population. 

With these may be classed missions to seamen in 
domestic and foreign ports, and also the duties of 
chaplains to soldiers and prisoners and freedmen. 
The rush of population to the gold mines of California, 
Colorado, Nevada, and other territories has made nec¬ 
essary special efforts in behalf of the motley commu¬ 
nities usually gathered together at the localities of 
profitable or hopeful mining. 

Faithful ministers sent into such fields of labor soon 
learn the necessity of special endeavors to adapt them¬ 
selves to successfully preach the Gospel to classes of 
men whom they have not been accustomed to see 
within the walls of churches. 

§ 1. Pastors should be Practical Missionaries. 

As a rule it ma}^ be affirmed that all pastors should 
interest themselves in practical missionary work, as 
well as in supporting the various missions referred to. 
There are few who desire to sow beside all waters 


OUT-DOOR PREACHING. 


375 


who will not themselves have occasional opportuni¬ 
ties to preach to the very classes of persons referred 
to either in connection with their own charges or 
during their travels. If diligent to visit prisons and 
hospitals, and to proclaim Christ in neglected neigh¬ 
borhoods and haunts of dissipation, they will find 
occasions for the most zealous and well-directed mis¬ 
sionary efforts. Sometimes such occasions may be 
met with at hotels, or on steamboats when traveling, 
and with some regularity at camp-meetings; while 
in the streets and market-places of cities it is often 
practicable to present the Gospel to those who would 
never come to hear it in churches. 

How far it may be best for the pastors of churches 
in cities to participate in street-preaching, is a ques¬ 
tion that cannot be satisfactorily decided apart from 
the peculiar circumstances in which they may be 
placed. But on the general question of the propriety 
of out-door preaching there seems hardly room for 
two opinions. 

In favor of preaching to multitudes wherever they 
can be gathered we have the direct example of Christ 
and the apostles. Such authority ought to silence all 
doubt upon the subject. But if any one should query 
whether out-door preaching is called for in modern 
times, let him consult the annals of the Wesleyan 
Reformation. Let him follow Whitefield, John and 
Charles Wesley, Helson, Pawson, Bradburn, Asbury, 
Lee, and other successful preachers of early Method¬ 
ism in England and America in their out-door labors 
for the furtherance of the Gospel, and his doubts will 
vanish. Hor will it be difficult to find, even down to 
the present day, convincing examples, though of a 
less prominent character. 


376 


QUALIFICATIONS. 


§ 2. Qualifications Essential to Success. 

Suffice it here to say, that whoever would succeed 
in out-door preaching, and in that class of missionary 
efforts to which every minister is liable to be more or 
less frequently called, will need to cultivate great 
readiness and boldness of speech. He will need to 
understand human nature thoroughly, and to pos¬ 
sess himself calmly in the most exciting circum¬ 
stances. He should never forget that to win souls, 
rather than control mobs, is the proper object of his 
ambition. 

To this end he must present truth in its most at¬ 
tractive and striking forms. He must acquire great 
skill in portraying character, so as to let every man 
see himself plainly in the Gospel glass. 

Many of the hints heretofore given on preaching to 
children are available for the purpose now under con¬ 
sideration, although care must be taken to avoid the 
remotest intimation that the intelligence of a crowd 
is underrated. 

Anecdote, promptness of retort, frequent varia¬ 
tions of the form of address, multiplied illustrations, 
and all other lawful devices of the public speaker 
will need to be at the ready command of him who 
would fully succeed in this class of efforts. But no 
one should be discouraged by partial failure at first. 
Practice is as necessary in this kind of preaching 
as in any other in order to attain the maximum of 
power. 

Nevertheless, he who would by all means save 
sinners will hold himself in readiness to do good 
even in a small degree and with occasional opportu¬ 
nities. 

Whatever may be said of other good qualities of 


QUALIFICATIONS. 


377 

this species of address, there is hut little doubt that 
in genuine religious faithfulness lies the ultimate 
secret of success. This in its active glow with the 
divine blessing will render even feeble talents effect¬ 
ive for great good, and if coupled with high orator¬ 
ical power may exert an influence almost unbounded. 


378 


PEOPEIETIES. 


CHAPTER XVIIL 

THE PROPRIETIES AND VICES OF THE PULPIT. 

§1. Proprieties. 

There is no character among men to whom an 
acute sense of propriety is more necessary than to 
the minister of the Gospel. He needs its guidance 
in all his intercourse with society, and especially in 
the performance of his public duties. He is then 
exposed to the gaze of the multitude, where an im¬ 
proper word or action makes him the subject of 
remark, if not of censure. 

It is highly important, therefore, that ministers, 
from their earliest appearance before congregations, 
should reflect upon the essential proprieties of de¬ 
meanor in the church of God and in the sacred desk. 

It is possible by a haughty or a careless manner, 
even in entering the church, to disgust an audience. 
On the other hand, by a manner true to the dignity 
and meekness of the holy office it is equally possible 
to impress a congregation favorably for the reception 
of the truth. 

Two examples will illustrate this position. It is 
related of the eloquent and devoted Spencer, of Liv¬ 
erpool, that on one occasion when about to ascend 
the steps of his pulpit he so far forgot himself as to 
spring up two or three steps at a single bound. 
This circumstance naturally excited remark and cen¬ 
sure among his people, and was a cause of bitter 
humiliation and regret to himself. 

After the death of M’Cheyne, of Scotland, there 


CLERICAL DEMEANOR. 


379 


was found upon his desk an unopened note from one 
who had heard his last sermon to this effect: “ Par¬ 
don a stranger for addressing to you a few lines. 
I heard you preach last Sabbath evening, and it 
pleased God to bless that sermon to my soul. It was 
not so much what you said as your manner of speak¬ 
ing it that struck me. I saw in you a beauty of 
holiness I never saw before.” 

PEOPEIETIES INVOLVED IN A MINISTEE’S PEESONAL 
DEMEANOE. 

A minister’s walk and appearance in entering the 
house of God should be equally removed from awk- 
w'ardness and from artificial airs. His demeanor 
from first to last should be characterized by thought¬ 
ful solemnity, and yet by ease and self-possession. 
It is said to be the custom of ministers in Holland 
to manifest a reverence for the pulpit by pausing at 
its lowest step in silent prayer. 

This may be very well, but it seems less appropri¬ 
ate to all the circumstances of the place and the serv¬ 
ice than the custom of kneeling after entering the 
pulpit, not toward the audience, but modestly toward 
the wall, as before the Invisible, to invoke divine aid 
in every act and word belonging to that sacred place. 

To enter the pulpit with apparent unconcern, and 
to sit down and gaze about upon an audience, beto¬ 
kens a lack of that devotional feeling which ought to 
be felt by the minister, and through his example 
communicated to the assembly. 

Any act out of harmony with such a frame of 
mind, whether of ostentation or of inadvertence, 
whether relating to himself or others, will mar the 
propriety of an occasion of worship. 

Adjustments of the clothing or of the hair, manip- 


380 


CLERICAL HABITS. 


ulation of one’s handkerchief or watch-key, or 
any other act that might divert attention from 
higher and appropriate objects, should he carefully 
avoided. 

The minister should never seem to recognize that 
The preacher he is ohservcd by the audience, but should 
worshiper. proccod, Hko any other worshiper, to par¬ 
ticipate in the solemnities of the occasion. He should 
habitually commence with promptness. He should 
read his hymns in a clear and audible voice, and, it 
possible, join in singing the praises of God. In offer¬ 
ing prayer he should kneel before his Maker, and 
with closed eyes and devout supplication should lead 
his congregation to the very throne of the heavenly 
grace. He should handle the books with quiet rev¬ 
erence, and not toss them about or beat them like 
dead matter. He should regard the Holy Bible as 
containing the living oracles of God, and should 
treat it with the respect due its author. He should 
not lay it aside to make room for his notes; he 
should not close it on taking his text, as if inde¬ 
pendent of its aid; but with the open book before 
him, as the guide and source of his teachings, he 
should acknowledge it to be his highest aim to 
declare the words which God has spoken. And 
having appropriately discharged the duties of the 
pulpit, he should maintain a walk and conversation 
so harmonious with them as never to excite the ob¬ 
servation of incongruity or insincerity. It is inde¬ 
scribably painful to the pious to witness levity and 
indiscretion on the part of those to whom they are 

accustomed to look for the bread of life. 

Avoid levity. *1 

And yet how often are they forced to 
wish that they only saw and heard their ministers in 
the pulpit! A single liglit or incautious expression 


AUXILIAEY SEKVICES. 


381 


sometimes neutralizes the entire effect of a sermon. 
But to such expressions some ministers are particu¬ 
larly prone, following the excitement of preaching. 
The surest if not the only remedy against evils of 
this kind is found in the admonition of the Saviour 
to his disciples: “Watch and pray, lest ye enter into 
temptation.” 

THE AUXILIARY SERVICES OF THE PULPIT. 

If preaching and hearing be regarded as the lead¬ 
ing and central object of religious assemblies on the 
Sabbath, the other services of the sanctuary should 
be regarded as auxiliary to that object. Hence in 
selecting the hymns and Scripture lessons, as well 
as in offering prayer, regard should be had to an 
essential unity of design with the sermon itself, so 
as, if possible, to make a definite and powerful im¬ 
pression, not weakened by a contrariety of subjects. 

Every minister should seek to qualify himself to 
read the Scriptures with great impressiveness, and 
with a truthful indication of the meaning of every 
word. To this end, as well as for general elocu¬ 
tionary improvement, the practice of daily reading 
aloud in a large room or in the open air is of great 
advantage. 

Notices should be read at the time when they 
will least divert attention from the leading object 
of the service, hence generally before the sermon. 
When the sermon accomplishes in any good degree 
its object, the concluding prayer and hymn should 
follow in its immediate train, deepening the impres¬ 
sion which has been made. 

The congregation should also be dismissed with 
solemnity, and become accustomed to retire in 
thoughtful silence. 


382 


INCAPACITY. 


If the Psalmist spoke truly in saying, ‘‘Holi¬ 
ness becometh thy house, O Lord, forever,” it 
must ever be the duty of those who conduct the 
Solemnities Of services of the sanctuary to so govern 
worship. them at every point as that their influ¬ 
ence may be riglit upon the hearts and lives of the 
people. A failure to perceive what is strictly 
proper, and still worse, an incapacity to quietly and 
wisely govern an assembly, especially if it lead to 
any indiscretion on the part of the preacher, will 
often cause disorder, trifling, and other serious 
breaches of decorum greatly at variance with the 
objects of public worship. 

As a general rule, a minister is responsible for the 
public conduct of his congregation. If any members 
of it are not aware of what is proper or improper in 
the house of God they should be patiently instructed. 
If any are willfully rude or disorderly, the minister 
with such aid as he may secure should see that they 
are effectually corrected, or at least prevented from 
doing harm to others. 

While promptness and decision of character are 
important in their place, it must never be forgotten 
that love and gentleness are the great instrument¬ 
alities by which the fro ward are restrained and the 
careless effectually rebuked. 

By long usage the utterance of a scriptural bene¬ 
diction has become the established mode 

The benediction. « . . . t • 

01 dismissing a religious congregation. 
By some ministers this act seems to be regarded as 
analogous to that of priestly absolution. Hence with 
open eyes gazing upon the people and with out¬ 
stretched hands they declare upon them the love of 
God, the grace of Christ, and the communion of the 
Holy Ghost. 


MINISTEKIAL COUKTESY. 


383 


The error of this mode of pronouncing the bene¬ 
diction is obvious from the simple reflection that the 
blessings indicated in the apostolic benediction are 
peculiarly the gift of God. They are not committed 
to mortals to dispense, ministers though they be. 
Hence they are to be sought in supplication, with 
uplifted hands and closed eyes, expressive of con¬ 
scious dependence upon the Giver of all good gifts. 

Attention to the different Scripture benedictions 
will show” that they are invariably supplicatory in 
fact, if not in form. Hence ministers should not 
assume to bestow blessings when their highest prov¬ 
ince is to invoke them upon the people. 

MmiSTEEIAL COIJETESY. 

Courtesy may be enumerated among the proprie¬ 
ties of the pulpit. It is enjoined and commended in 
the Hew Testament as a Christian virtue. Christian 
courtesy condescends to men of low estate; it honors 
the poor, the aged, and the stranger. In its highest 
and purest forms it should pervade all the intercourse 
of a minister with his people and his audiences. 

It also has special application to his ministerial 
brethren. When a stranger is invited to preach for 
you courtesy will prompt you to conduct him to the 
pulpit, to offer him the hymn book and Bible, to in¬ 
troduce him in some modest form to your congre¬ 
gation, and thus make him feel at home with your 
people. 

On the other hand, courtesy will prompt the 
stranger to conform to your modes of worship, to 
avoid attacks upon your doctrines or usages, although 
he may not receive them, all as his own, and to pre¬ 
sent those views of truth in which you and he may 
fully harmonize. 


384 


MINISTERIAL COURTESY. 


Courtesy between ministers demands frankness in 
giving and accepting, or declining invitations to 
preach. It rejects ceremonious formalities in refer¬ 
ence to either, and demands truth from the lips as 
well as in the heart. True Christian feeling is at 
once the source and exponent of real politeness. It 
generously prompts and kindly accepts appropriate 
attentions, as well in ministerial as in common life, 
while it scorns idle ceremony and false pretense. 

The late Dr. Bethune once uttered words on the 
subject of courtesy in ministerial character* which 
deserve to go down to .posterity, and may fitly con¬ 
clude the treatment of this topic : 

Our brethren in tlie ministry should ever be spoken of with 
honor and kindness. Let ministers show disrespect for each 
other and the world will soon show disrespect for the whole 
ministry. They are heralds of “ the glorious Gospel of the blessed 
God.” Especially the fathers in the ministry are to be ven¬ 
erated and given all precedence. “Rise up before the hoary 
head,” is a command of the Holy Ghost; but when the head has 
grown gray in righteousness, and been made glorious by many 
anointings of the Holy Spirit, it ought to abash the flippant tongue 
and beardless self-sufficiency of a stripling but a few days from 
the theological nursery. It is most offensive to see such green 
babblers pushing aside God’s veterans in council and action. 
The new weight of responsibility should make them humble, and 
common decency loth to obtrude. He that is not willing to 
take the lowest place shall never hear the Master saying, “ Friend, 
come up higher.” To be conspicuous in littleness one need only 
stand on the pedestal of a Colossus. ' 

Can I be wrong in saying that a Christian preacher should 
be the highest style of gentleman? Not one of those polished 
hypocrites, fashioned by the tailor, dancing-master, and hair¬ 
dresser, who usurp the name; covering coldness of heart with 
pretenses of friendship; flattering to cajole; bowing where they 
feel no respect, and promising service while they intend to 
abandon, circumvent, or destroy. But a gentleman in the true 

* Oration at Andover, 1842. 


PROPRIETIES OF THE SACRED DESK. 


385 


sense of that honorable term, firm in high principle, and dignified 
by integrity; frank without hluntness, kind without flattery, 
gentle without weakness, exact without formality, charitable 
without show; free from affectation, egotism, or impertinence; 
ever mindful of his neighbor’s feelings, tolerant of his infirmities, 
and patient with his mistakes; never intrusive nor yet bashful, 
tempering his speech to the occasion, ready to give place to the 
older, the wiser, the stranger, and the more feeble; yielding 
scrupulous respect to authority, not ashamed of allegiance to 
God, and serving his fellow-men for God’s sake. 

These, beloved brethren, are the maxims that should govern 
our lives, and mark our demeanor in the pulpit, where we stand 
in Christ’s place, examples as well as expounders of Christianity. 
We need no silken deceits, no fashionable airs, no flattering ob¬ 
sequiousness. But if we he humble, as we ought to be; if we 
walk as followers of the meek, mild, and merciful Jesus, and 
learn, as good scholars, from the Holy Spirit, of concord and 
order, we must manifest it by a real deference, a sweet respect, 
a kind consideration, and a gracious manner toward all with 
whom we have to do. 

If we address men as sinners it will not be in harsh or re¬ 
pulsive language, as though we were better than they; but by 
putting ourselves among them as sinners saved by free grace, 
which we entreat them to share. If we rebuke it will be in the 
name of God, before whom we tremble. If we denounce licen¬ 
tiousness it will be in no gross terms, but with a delicacy shrink¬ 
ing from the shame duty requires us to discover. If we foretell 
the miseries of the lost it will be with a pious terror, and an 
earnest desire to avert them from our hearers, “ for it is a fearful 
thing to fall into the hands of the living God;” and we might 
well weep over impenitent souls, as Christ did over Jerusalem. 
If we be in controversy, (though it is far better to refute error 
by teaching truth,) our opponent, however we handle his argu¬ 
ments, should receive from us the respect due to a man. Mere 
abuse always gives him a moral advantage in the sympathies of 
the people, and supercilious airs of anticipated triumph disgust 
by their vanity. Railing makes a blackguard mouth; and he 
who calls ill-names in the pulpit or out of it, dares to say of his 
fellow-sinner what Michael, the archangel, dared not of the devil 
himself. There is nothing so strong as a fair argument in meek 
lips. “ Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.” 

25 


386 


PLAGIARISM, OR LITERARY THEFT. 


§ 2. Yices of the Pulpit. 

The term mces is used in this connection to in¬ 
dicate a class of serious faults which are not often 
found aggregated, but which singly, or with more or 
less cohesion, are quite too common among preachers. 

PLAGIARISM, OR LITERARY THEFT. 

Stealing is always a vice, and certainly not less so 
when applied to the products of the mind than to 
those of the hand. 

Like other vices, also, it hardens the criminal and 
renders him insensible to the niceties of moral obli¬ 
gation, and often to the hazards of detection. This 
is shown by the fact that not seldom plagiarists be¬ 
come so bold as to rush into print, and run all the risks 
of actual collation and comparison of their stolen 
matter with the original. The greater difficulty of 
comparison in the case of a spoken discourse may 
embolden still greater liberty on the part of speakers 
who have no moral scruples to deter them from the 
use, without proper credit, of other men’s productions. 

There certainly exists in the Christian literature 
of the present age a large provision for the entertain¬ 
ment and instruction of the people, and hundreds of 
volumes containing such instruction are not likely to 
find their way into the hands of the masses. IS'ow, 
why may not a preacher avail himself of the labors 
of other men by copying or committing his sermons 
from books rather than to have the labor of writing 
or preaching new ones continually, and especially 
when he knows that his best efforts will not equal 
the literary merits of many sermons already written 
ajid published? One reply may be given to this 
question in the statement, that if the reproduction 


PLAGIAKISM. 


387 


of fine sermons already written were the chief thing 
required of the modern pulpit, churches might read¬ 
ily supply themselves with the volumes containing 
them, and at a rate much cheaper than the support 
of living ministers. 

Circumstances occur in which the reading of ser¬ 
mons from books is highly appropriate, as in the ab¬ 
sence of a minister, or when a minister has a special 
and sufficient reason for reading the discourse of an¬ 
other man, for example, Wesley’s sermon on dress or 
on popular amusements; hut any effort to gather or 
maintain a congregation by the reading or recitation 
of the sermons of other men, if the mode of proceed¬ 
ing be known, will result in failure. 

The natural demand of mankind in respect to public 
teaching is the living speaker. Him, in what they 
suppose to be his proper character, they will come and 
hear, though they know that his ability is inferior to 
that of authors they may read at home. 

This principle may be tested by political gather¬ 
ings. The finest things that can be written or said 
on various political questions are already in print; 
but where could you gather a mass of people to hear 
speeches read, even of the greatest statesmen or ora¬ 
tors? Yet people will come in crowds to hear living 
and actual speakers, although but ordinary men, dis¬ 
cuss the questions of the day. 

Notwithstanding the claim made by the public and 
by truth for originality upon preachers, yet some 
ministers commit plagiarism in one or more of the 
following forms: 

1. Of entire sermons, by copying from books, by 
exchanging with other-ministers, and by purchasing 
manuscripts and lithographs prepared for their use. 

2. The plagiarism of extracts, which are interwoven 


388 


MODES OF PLAGIARISM. 


■with more or less regularity into the web or woof of 
their discourses. 

3. Of plans. 

Some good men have encouraged a very loose mo¬ 
rality respecting the use of plans of sermons. Yolumes 
on volumes have been published and recommended to 
young ministers and others supposed to need helps of 
this kind. The impropriety of adopting them has 
been shown in a former part of this work, on the 
ground of its tendency to enfeeble the mind and pre¬ 
vent a man from ever attaining true independence in 
preaching. It is only necessary to add, that if a 
preacher intentionally adopts the plan of another he 
is morally bound to give appropriate credit. 

4. Another species of plagiarism consists in direct 
efforts at imitation. 

It has been already explained that we are at per¬ 
fect liberty, it is indeed our duty, to imbibe the spirit 
of whatever excellences we read or see or hear. But 
if we reproduce them it must be in our own way, 
with our own language, and having passed through 
our own mental processes. 

But when we seek to imitate other men’s intona¬ 
tions, forms of expression, and modes of thought, we 
to a certain degree become plagiarists, and are. gener¬ 
ally rewarded according to our deed by only succeed¬ 
ing to imitate the faults rather than the excellences 
of those we admire. 

Be yourself “rather than an angel,” said Adam 
Clarke. Nevertheless, we should put forth great 
efforts to make ourselves more worthy men though 
we cannot be angels. 


STARRING. 


389 


IlSTDOLENCE OF PKEPARATION. 

This involves a lazy routine of subjects, the too 
frequent repetition of old sermons, and also a lack of 
interest, of ingenuity, or of diligence in adapting truth 
to the instruction of the people. 

So much has been said in foregoing chapters upon 
the duty and modes of preparation to preach, that it 
cannot now be necessary to dwell upon the negative 
aspects of the subject any further than to characterize 
neglect or indolence in reference to this matter as a 
serious evil, and one into which extemporaneous 
preachers are very liable to fall. 

STARRING. 

This term is used to indicate the habit of using a 
few showy or superior sermons at the expense of more 
general and uniform excellence. 

There can be no objection to few or many good 
and even superior sermons if adapted to the occasions 
of their delivery. Attempts, however, to show off 
great talents, or to seek reputation by means of one 
or more extraordinary efforts which will be neces¬ 
sarily in contrast with one’s ordinary ministry, are of 
more than doubtful propriety. 

The influence of such a course upon the minister 
himself is bad. It will at least gradually compromise 
the acuteness of his sense of honesty and truth, while 
it will encourage in him a hunger and thirst after 
human applause rather than a single desire for the 
honor that cometh down from God. 

The effect it will have upon his reputation and use¬ 
fulness in the Church will be ultimately injurious, 
however he may at flrst be flattered by apparent 
success. 


390 


SEEIOUS VICES. 


If the question be asked, Is it not better to prepare 
All sermons a few good sermons rather than many poor 
good ones ? it may undoubtedly be answered in 
the affirmative. But such an answer by no means 
concedes the propriety of preparing or preaching any 
poor sermons. If a preacher is compelled by circum¬ 
stances to preach oftener than he would desire, he is 
at liberty to curtail the length of his sermons to the 
narrowest limits; nevertheless, he should every time 
do his best. 

'No one knows what he can do until he is brought 
under the strong pressure of necessity, and made to 
feel a deep sense of dependence upon God for illu¬ 
mination and aid. 

At least indirectly under the present head, it is 
proper to notice and condemn every species of ex¬ 
travagance, bombast, and clap-trap which are some¬ 
times employed to draw crowds. 

The principle of appealing to the lower sentiments 
of humanity for the sake of securing applause being 
once adopted, it is liable to assume a variety of 
forms, and sometimes to descend very low. 

It cannot be denied that even vulgarity and flat¬ 
tery of the mob are sometimes resorted to 

Serious vices. . ^ ^ , 

in the pulpit, and that they seem to secure 
their object. That their results, however, are ever 
good, and not injurious to the cause of true religion, is 
as little questionable. They are always in extremely 
ill taste, and they imply a lack of confidence in truth, 
and a disposition to rely on carnal agencies for the 
promotion of the Gospel not consistent with the faith 
of a Christian minister. 

Besides, the tendency of. such indulgences is to 
desecrate the hallowed place and to break the sacred 
charm of religious associations. 


WITTICISM. 


391 


As aiFectation is never graceful, so coarseness is never effective. 
There is no force nor wit in 'slang or cant expressions; or if they 
excite attention for the moment it is at the expense of the house 
of God, the ministry, and the Gospel itself, by pandering to a 
low taste, and investing sacred things with ludicrous and grovel¬ 
ing associations. The man who plays the buffoon or the clown 
in a pulpit leaves not that solemn place what he found it. How¬ 
ever dignified the preacher may be that follows him, the people 
cannot look up to listen, and forget the tricks that were played 
where he stands; vulgar pruriency will long for the gross excite¬ 
ment, and the refined cannot wholly discharge the sickening 
images from their thoughts. Let once the boisterous laugh ring 
round a place of "worship, and its echoes will disturb the medita¬ 
tions of the pious for many a long day. 

Never forget yourselves, nor suffer those to preach for you 
who do forget, that the Church is “none other than the gate of 
heaven,” and the ministry men consecrated to convert the hearts, 
refine the temper, and exalt the minds of a degraded world, by 
uplifting before them, in all its grandeur and sweetness, the Gos¬ 
pel of a holy God.— Bethijne. 

WITTICISM. 

On the use of wit and humor in preaching there is 
a greater variety of opinion. Some earnestly con¬ 
tend for the supposed propriety of applying ridicule 
and sarcasm to error and sin. If the question were 
with reference to general literature, or the style of a 
mere moralist, it might be differently regarded, since 
certain species of folly may he made to wither under 
the application of ridicule, and humor is very enter¬ 
taining. 

With reference to preaching the Gospel, however, 
the question arises on the score of congruity and pro¬ 
priety in their highest and gravest sense. In this 
view, the most that can be said in favor of wit and 
humor can only present them as very feeble auxilia¬ 
ries to a Christian minister, whereas danger of gross 
impropriety attends their use. If, in deference to 


392 


HUMOR. 


those rare examples of irony found in the Scriptures, 
it he conceded that humor may be occasionally em¬ 
ployed, it must also be enjoined to keep it under rigid 
restraint. Some men are gifted with an extraordi¬ 
nary flow of humor, which without doubt may he dis¬ 
ciplined and sanctifled so as to become a talent of 
usefulness, when judiciously employed, even in the 
pulpit. But against its free indulgence or excessive 
use by ministers in any circumstances, distinct warn¬ 
ings should be uttered. 

In all periods of the history of preaching the abuses 
of this faculty seem to have been more obvious than 
its uses. Hence it may be better to rest the case 
upon the testimony of good men rather than upon a 
theoretic argument. 

Ridicule (says Yinet) shuts the soul to religious emotions. 
Moreover it is a weapon that may he applied to good as well as 
to evil, and one which if a minister uses he is very likely to have 
with greater power turned against himself. 

Dean Swift, in his letter to a young clergyman, 
throws a shaft of ridicule at the very practice in ques¬ 
tion. He says: 

I cannot forbear warning in the most earnest manner against 
endeavoring at wit in your sermons, because by the strictest 
computation it is very near a million to one that you have none, 
and because too many of your calling have made themselves 
everlastingly ridiculous by attempting it. I remember several 
young men in this town who could never leave the pulpit under 
half a dozen conceits^ and this faculty adhered to those gentlemen 
a longer or shorter time, exactly in proportion to their several 
degrees of dullness; accordingly I am told that some of them re¬ 
tain it to this day. I heartily wish the brood were at an end. 

• 

Again, the use of wit. tends to depreciate the esti¬ 
mate in which one’s judgment is held, and conse¬ 
quently to lower the influence of a minister's personal 


AUTHORITIES. 


893 


character. Lord Karnes is authority upon this point, 
although his remarks are general, and not designed 
for the present application. He says: 

Wit and judgment are seldom united. Wit consists cMefly in 
joining things by distant and fanciful relations, which surprise 
because they are unexpected. Such relations, being of the slight¬ 
est kind, readily occur only to those who make every relation 
equally welcome. Wit upon that account is incompatible with 
solid judgment. 

“ Subjects really grave are by no means fit for rid¬ 
icule.” And yet those who ought to be grave minis¬ 
ters are tempted sometimes to indulge in ridicule 
because it excites laughter and the appearance of a 
momentary approbation. Campbell, author of the 
Philosophy of Khetoric, says: 

The effect designed by the pulpit, namely, the reformation of 
mankind, requires a certain seriousness which ought uniformly 
to be preserved by the preacher. His time, place, and occupa¬ 
tion seem all incompatible with the levity of ridicule; they 
(indeed) render jesting impertinence and laughter madness. 
Therefore anything from the pulpit which might provoke this 
emotion would be deemed an unpardonable offense against both 
piety and decorum. 

Edmondson, in his work on the Christian Ministry, 
says: 

Never aim at displays of wit in the pulpit. This might suit 
a buffoon, but ill becomes a grave minister of Jesus Christ. 
Triflers might like it well enough, but the deeply serious would 
be disgusted. 

Baxter enters his solemn protest against witticism 
in the pulpit in these words: 

Of all preaching in the world that speaks not stark lies, I hate 
that which tendeth to make the hearers laugh or to move their 
minds with tickling levity, and affect them as stage-players use 
to do, instead of affecting them with a holy reverence in the 
name of God. 


394 


COWPER. 


The same evil, with some others, has been gibbeted 
in the immortal verse of Cowper: 

Would I describe a preacher, such as Paul, 

Were lie on earth, would hear, approve, and own— 

Paul should himself direct me. I would trace 
His master strokes, and draw from his design. 

I would express him simple, grave, sincere: 

In doctrine uncorrupt: in language plain. 

And plain in manner; decent, solemn, chaste. 

And natural in gesture; much impressed 
Himself, as conscious of his awful charge. 

And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds 
May feel it too; atfectionate in look 
And tender in address, as well becomes 
A messenger of grace to guilty men. 

Behold the picture! Is it like? Like whom? 

The things that mount the rostrum with a skip 
And then skip down again; pronounce a text; 

Cry—hem; and reading what they never wrote 
Just fifteen minutes, huddle up their work, 

And with a well-bred whisper close the scene! 

In man or woman, but far most in man. 

And most of all in man that ministers 
And serves the altar, in my soul I loathe 
All afiectation. ’Tis my perfect scorn; 

Object of my implacable disgust. 

What! will a man play tricks, will he indulge 
A silly fond conceit of his fair form. 

And just proportion, fashionable mien. 

And pretty face, in presence of his God? 

Or will he seek to dazzle me with tropes 
As with the diamond on his lily hand. 

And play his brilliant parts before my eyes 
When I am hungry for the bread of life ? 

He mocks his Maker, prostitutes and shames 
His noble office, and, instead of truth. 

Displaying his own beauty, starves his flock I 
Therefore, avaunt all attitude, and stare. 

And start theatric, practiced at the glass! 

* * * ■ * * 

He that negotiates between God and man 


AFFECTATION OF PKOFUNDITY. 


395 


As God’s embassador, the grand concerns 
Of judgment and of mercy, should beware 
Of lightness in his speech. ’Tis pitiful 
To court a grin when you should woo a soul; 

To break a jest, when pity would inspire 
Pathetic exhortation; and to address 
The skittish fancy with facetious tales 
When sent with God’s commission to the heart! 

So did not Paul. Direct me to a quip 
Or merry turn in all he ever wrote. 

And I consent you take it for your text. 

Your only one, till sides and benches fail. 

No: he was serious in a serious cause. 

And understood too well the weighty terms 
That he had taken in charge. He would not stoop 
To conquer those by jocular exploits 
Whom truth and soberness assail’d in vain. 

THE AFFECTATION OF PKOFUNDITY. 

Real profundity is bad enough. To a few persons 
it is habitual; but it renders them so enigmatic and 
incomprehensible to mankind in general that they 
are of but little service .as public teachers. In order 
to be useful, such persons need to learn the language 
and style of thought common among the people whom 
they address. To the great majority of preachers 
that language and style of thought are familiar; but 
some affect to ignore it at the very time when it 
might be of the most service to them. They put on 
airs of superior wisdom, they use ‘‘great swelling 
words” and lofty pretensions. If they speak in 
common language, or on topics within the range of 
ordinary mortals, they take care to let you know that 
it is a peculiar condescension; a descent or ascent to 
surface ideas quite out of their conimon course. 

In these ways and others like them some may suc¬ 
ceed in causing the wonderment of the simple, but 
rarely in hiding their own shallowness. 


396 


TEDIOUSNESS. 


Avoid affectation then in all its forms, but espe¬ 
cially that of great wisdom and of personal conse¬ 
quence. It will infallibly distress your friends and 
disgust the enemies of religion. 

Get all the real learning and wisdom you can, but 
fail not to associate with them that modesty and 
humility which becomes true intellectual greatness 
• as well as the Christian, and especially the ministerial 
character. ‘‘ He that winneth souls is wise.” 

TEDIOUSNESS. 

This is a very unnecessary but nevertheless a com¬ 
mon fault of the pulpit. Against it every minister 
should watch with eagle eye. The remarks and 
example of William Jay may be received as of un¬ 
questioned authority upon the subject: 

There is nothing against which a preacher should he more 
guarded than length. “Nothing,” says Lamont, “can justify a 
long sermon. If it he a good one it need not he long, and if it 
he a had one it ought not to he long.” Boyle has an essay on 
“Patience under Long Preaching.” This was never more 
wanted since the Commonwealth than now, especially among 
our young divines and academics, who think their performances 
can never he too much attended to. I never err in this way 
myself hut my conviction always laments it, and for many years 
after I began preaching I never offended in this way. , I never 
surpassed forty-five minutes at most. I saw one excellency was 
within my reach: it was brevity, and this I was determined to 
obtain. 

Let other ministers make the same determination. 
They may be confirmed in it by the advice of Luther, 
who said: 

* 

I would not have preachers torment their hearers with long 
and tedious preaching. When I am in the pulpit I regard 
neither doctors nor magistrates, hut I have an eye to the mul¬ 
titudes of young people, children, and servants. 


ELOQUENCE. 


397 


CHAPTER XIX. 

THE PHILOSOPHY OF ELOQUENCE CONSIDERED 
IN REFERENCE TO PREACHING. 

Eloquence is a topic of universal interest. It has 
been discussed by the learned in the most enlightened 
countries for more than three thousand years. A 
school was established in Greece and a book written 
to promote instruction in oratory half a century before 
the Trojan war, a period parallel with the days of 
Solomon. 

Eloquence has not been unknown in savage tribes, 
and with the progress of civilization its study and 
cultivation increases. Yet even down to the present 
day there continue to be conflicting views as to what 
eloquence really is. On no subject within the range 
of literature will the student And more difference of 
treatment among standard authors. 

§ 1. Yarious Definitions of Eloquence. 

From the earliest Greek writers down through the 
treatises of Cicero and Quintilian among the Romans 
he will And a confused use of the terms rhetoric^ ora- 
tory^ and eloquence. The prevailing theory to the 
period of Cicero was that rhetoric was the art of per¬ 
suasion, and that eloquence was the result of rhetoric. 
Quintilian objected to that deflnition on the ground 
that persuasion was often accomplished by money and 
other means in no sense oratorical. He sought to 
give a better definition by calling “Rhetoric the art of 


398 


DEFINITIONS. 


speaking well,” and eloquence the end or perfection 
of good speaking. Most modern writers have fol¬ 
lowed one or the other of these ancient* theories. 
Campbell, author of the Philosophy of Phetoric, fol¬ 
lowing Cicero’s definition, says: “ Eloquence in its 
greatest latitude denotes that art or talent by which 
discourse is adapted to its end;” and “the ends of 
speaking are reducible to four, every speech being 
intended to enlighten the understanding, to please 
the imagination, to move the passions, to infiuence 
the will.” His view is that some one of these objects 
will preponderate in every discourse, but that they 
all may have appropriate place in one discourse. 

Dr. Porter, of Andover, adopts Campbell’s defini¬ 
tion. 

Blair vaguely uses the term eloquence as synony¬ 
mous with public speaking, and says: “The best 
definition which, I think, can be given of eloquence is 
the art of speaking in such a manner as to attain the 
end for which we speak.” 

John Quincy Adams, improving upon Quintilian, 
calls rhetoric the science, and oratory the art of speak¬ 
ing well. He also ingeniously identifies the defini¬ 
tion of Quintilian with the language of inspiration in 
the book of Genesis. When Moses was charged with 
the mission to Pharaoh his excuse was, “ I am not 
eloquent, but am slow of speech and of a slow 
tongue.” The Almighty condescended to associate 
Aaron with him, saying of him, “I know that he 
can speak well;” practically, he is eloquent. The 
German author, Theremin, accepting the theory of 
Quintilian, that the orator must be a good man, writes 
an ingenious treatise under the title, “Eloquence a 
Yirtue.” In the fundamental view that eloquence 
seeks to produce a change in the sentiments and 


DEFINITIONS. 


399 


conduct of men, he urges that ‘‘rhetoric, considered 
as the theory of eloquence, is a part of ethics, and 
that eloquence itself is an ability to exert influence 
according to ethical laws.” He further says: “Elo¬ 
quence in all its various forms is nothing but the 
development of the ethical impulse itself.” 

Yinet is more than usually diffuse in his treatment of 
eloquence. He quotes La Bruy ere, who says: “ It is 
a gift of the soul, which makes us masters of the mind 
and heart of others, which enables us to inspire them 
as we will, or persuade them to whatever we please.” 
Also Pascal, who says: “Eloquence consists in a 
correspondence which we endeavor to establish be¬ 
tween the mind and heart of those to whom w^e 
speak, on the one hand, and the thought and expres¬ 
sions which we employ on the other.” He further 
quotes D’Alembert: “ Eloquence properly consists 
only in vivid and rapid traits; its effect is lively 
emotion, and all emotion is enfeebled by being pro¬ 
longed. Eloquence, then, in a discourse of any 
length, can reign only at intervals; the lightning 
darts and the cloud closes.” 

Yinet adopts as his own theory a digest of these 
views, slightly modifled, to the effect that eloquence 
is subjectively a gift of the soul, and objectively a 
quality of style that may be not only vivid and rapid, 
but continuous. He, however, takes particular pains 
to maintain that eloquence is a unit. “Eloquence 
certainly is always the same; it is not one thing in 
the pulpit, and another in the senate or at the bar.” 
And yet the same author speaks of >“ eloquence not 
oratorical; the eloquence of narration as well as that 
of reasoning; eloquence of kinds the most diverse.” 

Again, an American writer,* conforming to the 

* Fo\vler on the English Language. 


400 


THE TRUE IDEA. 


definition of Webster, the lexicographer, pronounces 
eloquence to he “ the language of emotion.’’ 

In the face of so many and such long-continued di¬ 
vergencies is it possible to deduce a harmonious and 
comprehensive theory of eloquence % In order to do 
so it is necessary first to reject all partial and vague 
definitions, such as those which call eloquence an art, 
a talent, a gift, or a method. 

§2. Analysis of the True Idea of Eloquence. 

Let us begin at the root of the matter. What is 
eloquence % The answer cannot be given in a single 
word or sentence. The term eloquence has different 
significations, all of which revolve around the idea of 
EXPRESSION. Without expression there can be no 
eloquence. Any form of expression, even panto¬ 
mime, may secure in some degree the objective result 
of eloquence. There is indeed “ a dumb eloquence 
not even denied to the brutes,” but it is upon man 
especially that powers of expression have been lav¬ 
ished as a distinguishing gift, with corresponding 
powers of perception. The fountain of expression is 
within the soul. It consists of thought and feeling. 
Speech is the principal organ of expression, but col¬ 
lateral to it are all significant movements of the body, 
such as gesture, or the changes of the countenance. 

Let us now accept the scriptural idea that an elo¬ 
quent man is one who can speak well. His scriptural 
eloquence must first exist within him or it 
can never be uttered. This is the eloquence of 
thought. But if it remains in his thoughts, though 
he be a very Moses for wisdom, his fellow-men will 
not recognize it; they will be unmoved by his slow 
tongue.” Eloquence of thought must find expression 
in language. Here is its second phase as a quality 


THE TKUE IDEA. 


401 


of discourse. It is this which has been almost exclu¬ 
sively regarded by rhetoricians, and hence so many 
imperfect definitions. 

Its third phase is found in the effect it produces 
on the minds of other men. The object of speaking 
is to stir the thoughts and emotions of other men. 
With reference to an audience, or objectively, no 
speech is eloquent which fails to accomplish that end. 

In reference to style, we may call that eloquent 
which usually conveys or excites eloquent emotions; 
but style of language is a very small part of eloquence, 
and that which without specific adaptation and good 
elocution accomplishes little or nothing. The effect 
of eloquence, moreover, depends somewhat upon the 
hearer. A discourse which is eloquent to others may 
fall profitless upon an inattentive ear, or may fail to 
arouse a sluggish mind. On the other hand, the 
power of truth or feeling when inadequately ex¬ 
pressed may sometimes produce eloquent thoughts 
and strong emotions. 

Eloquence in its full sense is that powerful com¬ 
bination of thought, language, and delivery which 
extorts attention from the listless, excites the thought¬ 
fulness of the indifferent, and kindles the emotion of 
the coldest heart. In brief, eloquence is good speak¬ 
ing, and especially that which excites emotion. 

ELOQUENCE NOT A UNIT. IT DIFFERS IN KINDS AND 

It is absurd to call it a unit—always the same. Its 
varieties are infinite. Not more varied are human 
countenances than the types of mind which beam 
through them, and which may have their several 
forms and characters of eloquent expression. Among 
all the distinguished orators and preachers the world 
26 


402 


NOT A UNIT. 


has ever known it is not possible to name two alike. 
It is not difficult, indeed, to distinguish similarities' 
and classes, or for students to make choice of styles 
most in harmonj^ with their tastes; yet it is w^ell to 
study all varieties as containing elements of sugges¬ 
tion and instruction. 

Hot only does eloquence differ as to individual 
types, but also widely as to occasion and design. 
From ancient times the eloquence of the bar, the 
senate, and the forum have been regarded as distinct 
in kind, though having points in common. That of 
the pulpit is broadly distinguished from all the fore¬ 
going by its objects and instrumentalities. 

Again, eloquence differs in degree as well as in 
kind. Blair’s distinctions of degree are admissible 
with a single change. 

Eloquence of the first degree only aims to please^ 
as in panegyrics, inaugurals, addresses of cere¬ 
mony, and the like. 

The second aims to instruct and convince. To 
this belongs chiefly the eloquence of the bar, although 
it embraces many sermons. 

The third aims to secure a far greater control over 
the human mind, by rousing its feelings or sensi¬ 
bilities and swaying its passions. Excited debate, 
popular assemblies, and the pulpit give occasion for 
eloquence of the third degree. 

§ 3. The term Eloquence by Eminence applied 

ONLY TO THE HIGHEST DEGREES. 

While it must be conceded that men often speak 
well for the minor objects named under the first and 
second degrees, and consequently that the lower de¬ 
grees of eloquence have an actual existence, yet in 
common modern use the term eloquence is only 


POWER OF ELOQUENCE. 


403 


applied to the third degree, and by superiority only 
to the highest forms of that. 

This fact will serve to harmonize much apparent 
contradiction in the writers above quoted and others. 
Thus Dr. J. W. Alexander says, only one man in a 
thousand can be eloquentand yet the drift of his 
hook is to encourage all preachers to endeavor to 
become eloquent. It is in this superlative sense that 
eloquence is the language of the emotions. But in 
admitting this we do not deny the propriety or the 
possibility of eloquence in addresses to the intellect 
or appeals to the judgment. 

We call a man strong who can lift great weights, 
but we do not deny that a man who would fail 
altogether to lift such weights has strength in a lower 
The power of ^l^gree. So we say a discourse is elo- 
eioquence. queut whicli secui'es great control over 
the will and passions of men; but in so saying we do 
not deny a lower degree of eloquence to one which 
merely pleases or instructs. Hence let 
May be acquired. discouraged in their hopes to 

attain eloquence who at first can only aspire to its 
first or lower degrees. Let all ministers especially 
be diligent in acquiring the elements of success—the 
thoughts, the feelings, the capacities of language and 
utterance, and trust Providence for opportunities 
for their successful exercise, indeed for those com¬ 
binations of circumstances and efforts which are 
essential to the highest degrees of eloquence. The 
views here advocated find strong corroboration in the 
immortal words of Daniel Webster: 

When public bodies are to be addressed on momentous occa¬ 
sions, when great interests are at stake and strong passions ex¬ 
cited, nothing is valuable in speech further than it is connected 
with high intellectual and moral endowments. Clearness, force, 


404 


PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 


and earnestness are the qualities which produce conviction. 
True eloquence, indeed, does not consist in speech. It cannot 
be brought from far. Labor and learning may toil for it, hut 
they will toil in vain. Words and phrases may be marshaled 
in every way, but they cannot compass it. It must exist in the 
man, in the subject, and in the occasion. Atfected passion, in¬ 
tense expression, the pomp of declamation, all may aspire to it; 
they cannot reach it. It comes, if it come at all, like the out¬ 
breaking of a fountain from the earth, or the bursting forth of 
volcanic fires, with spontaneous, original native force. The 
graces taught in the schools, the costly ornaments and studied 
contrivances of speech, shock and disgust men when their own 
lives, and the fate of their wives, their children, and their country 
hang on the decision of an hour. Then words have lost their 
power, rhetoric is vain, and all elaborate oratory contemptible. 
Even genius itself then feels rebuked and subdued, as in the pres¬ 
ence of higher qualities. Then patriotism is eloquent; then self- 
devotion is eloquent. The clear conception, outrunning the de¬ 
ductions of logic; the high purpose, the firm resolve, the dauntless 
spirit, speaking on the tongue, beaming from the eye, informing 
every feature, and urging the whole man onward, right onward 
to his object; this, this is eloquence, or rather it is something 
greater and higher than all eloquence; it is action, noble, sub¬ 
lime, godlike action. 

§ 4. The Themes and Circumstances of the 
Pulpit favorable to the highest Eloquence. 

Let the above impressive declarations be compared 
with wbat is demanded in the Christian pulpit. True 
eloquence “must exist in the man, in the subject, 
and in the occasion.” The eloquent preacher must 
be a man of God. In his own breast must 
dwell those living emotions which he de- 
sires to transfer to the hearts of others. His subject, 
although not connected with the rise or fall of na¬ 
tions, involves the overwhelming interests of souls 
that will outlive all the kingdoms and empires of the 
earth, while it is identified with the dearest interests 
of the everlasting kingdom of the Son of God. 


PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 


405 


The occasion is ever one of imminent concern. It 
may be the last to the preacher, or the last 

The occasion. , t ^ . 

to the hearer, and upon it eternal interests 
are ever pending. If such are the essential condi¬ 
tions of eloquence they focalize in the pulpit not 
once in an age, but as often as the faithful minister 
stands before dying men to proclaim the unsearch¬ 
able riches of Christ. 

It was in view of considerations like these that 
John Quincy Adams said the. pulpit is especially the 
throne of modern eloquence,” legitinrately inferring 
from his position that it was one of the most solemn 
and indispensable duties of the minister to qualify 
himself to sway from that throne the scepter of mind, 
and thus bring men to the allegiance of the King of 
kings. 

Dr. James Dixon recently said: “ Preaching is the 
effort of the preacher’s soul. It is his soul itself, and 
if the preacher only uses his soul, and has it fur 
nished with truth and knowledge and religion, he 
must be a good preacher.” 

Here is a beautiful though undesigned comment 
upon the idea expressed in the concluding words of 
the extract from Webster. Neither eloquence nor 
preaching consist in language, but in that which is 
higher than all language—in the action of the soul, 
agitating and elevating the souls of other men. What¬ 
ever helps that action, whether the internal working 
of the soul itself, or its outward expression through 
words or gestures, is a help to the proper design of 
the preacher, and whatever hinders that design is a 
clog upon the wheels of eloquence. 

Dr. Skinner has a paragraph to the same effect: 

Eloquence is not from knowledge or thinking merely, but from 
sympathy, from lively emotion, from light within, which burns 


406 


PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 


while it shines. Eloquence is the fruit of an engagement of the 
powers and forces of the mind in a business operation, an affair 
of action directed to an immediate object. Interest is its law, 
its spring, its life; other things being equal, the livelier the inter¬ 
est the higher the strain of eloquence. The preacher should as 
much as possible be impassionated by the subject; should put 
himself wholly into it, so as to be able to give himself to his 
hearers in and with his discourse. 

A modern writer has said : 

Of all the musical instruments on which men play, a popular 
assembly is that which has the largest compass and variety, and 
out of which, by genius and study, the most wonderful effects 
can be drawn. An audience is not a simple addition of the in¬ 
dividuals that compose it. Their sympathy gives them a certain 
social organism, which fills each member in his own degree, and 
most of all the orator, as a jar in a battery is charged with the 
whole electricity of the battery. No one can survey the face 
of an excited assembly without being apprised of new oppor¬ 
tunity for painting in fire human thought, and being agitated to 
agitate.* 

Under these suggestive figures let the minister of 
Christ again behold the glory of his office, and let 
him resolve that if God ever allows him again to play 
on that harp of a thousand strings ” he will endeavor 
to make melody in every heart to the Lord. If ever 
again permitted to be the organ of communication 
between the sources of heavenly infiuence and the 
consciences of men he will first seek to be ‘‘endued 
with power from on high,” that he may by the con¬ 
tact of expression impart that power to others—first 
be permeated with a pure fiame of love from the 
Spirit of God, that he may kindle a similar fiame in 
the breasts of others, inscribing on their very souls 
the image of Jesus. 

The glorious truths he is sent to proclaim, the mo- 

* Atlantic Monthly, Sept., 1858. 


PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 


407 


ffiflthemeandthe tivcs drawii from three worlds wliich 
circumstances. Instaiit and declslve action, 

the sacredness of the divine commission, and the fear¬ 
ful jeopardy of perishing men, all crowd upon him 
with an inspiration unknown to secular oratory, and 
leave him no excuse for tameness or dry formality. 
The pure and hallowed associations of the house 
of God are also favorable to the results which a 
minister should hope to accomplish. Although 
even in the sanctuary he will have to encounter the 
enmity of the heart against God, yet it will not he 
without the accompanying strivings of the Holy 
Spirit. 

Besides, in every man’s conscience he has a coadju¬ 
tor to the work he hopes to accomplish, and, according 
to "Dr. Griffin, it may be relied on as an everlast¬ 
ing maxim that the eloquence best fitted to thrill 
the heart of a philosopher is that which melts a 
child.” 

Let not the minister of God’s truth then he dis¬ 
couraged by any apparently untoward circumstances, 
but let him fully understand that if he is the man 
God will give him the subject and the occasion, and 
divinely appointed aid for the most noble employ¬ 
ment of human speech ever allotted to mortals. 

Self-conviction is the soul of all eloquence. And what are all 
the objects which ever elicited the fervid eloquence of soldier or 
patriot compared with those vast, august, and dread realities 
which swim before the eye and crowd upon the heart of the 
minister of Christ ? Convinced of these, he ascends the pulpit, 
bending under the burden of the Lord, and like the apostle, even 
weeping as he tells his hearers they are the enemies of the cross 
of Christ. His own spiritual experience has left no indistinct¬ 
ness in his mental perceptions. There is nothing vague or un¬ 
certain, nothing obscure or unintelligible in the speech of such 
a one. He presses earnestly toward his object. His heart’s de- 


408 


PULPIT ELOQUENCE. 


sire is that his hearers may be saved. The power of that inward 
emotion he cannot conceal. Chains cannot hind it. Mountains 
cannot bury it. It thaws through the most icy habits. It bursts 
from the lip. It speaks from the eye. It modulates the tone. 
It pervades the manner. * It possesses and controls the whole 
man. He is seen to be in earnest; he convinces; he persuades.* 

Here, then, is the philosophy of pulpit eloquence, 
A man believes, and therefore speaks. If he speaks 
well he transfers to the bosoms of others the emotions 
that glow in his own; men being so constituted that 
right expressions of truth and emotion produce upon 
them an influence almost irresistible. 

* Eev. W. Adams, in Biblical Eepository, 1842. 


ELEMENTS OF POWER. 


409 


CHAPTEE XX. 

CONDITIONS AND ELEMENTS OF POWER IN THE 
PULPIT. 

From the views presented in the last chapter, it is 
evident that eloquence alone is not a guaranty of 
success in preaching, although it is a powerful auxil¬ 
iary, and one which is to he earnestly coveted and 
diligently sought. 

It is now proposed to consider a subject of still 
greater importance by asking, What are the elements 
and conditions of power in the pulpit? There is a 
great difference between the form and the power of 
preaching. The former is easy and, to a certain ex¬ 
tent, desirable. The latter is more difficult, but of 
indispensable importance. Many content themselves 
with the form. Few covet the power with sufficient 
anxiety. 

Granting that there will ever be a diversity of tal¬ 
ents and of administrations in the sacred office, there 
are certain combinations of equal importance to all. 
The present theme is one of vast magnitude, but its 
fundamental principles have been so fully elaborated 
in the foregoing chapters that it only seems neces¬ 
sary in this to present a comprehensive summary. 
The following enumeration of elements and condi¬ 
tions is not made in the idea of exhausting the sub¬ 
ject, but rather in hope of suggesting its prominent 
features. 

1. Strong and clear conceptions of the w.agnitude 
and dignity of the preacher^s worh may he regarded 


410 


STRONG CONCEPTIONS. 


08 a 'primary condition of power in the performance 
of it. No man who chooses the ministry as a theater 
for professional display, or enters the priest’s office for 
a morsel of bread, can ever expect to rise to a just 
conception of its higher glories. He who would 
attain not only to such a conception, but to its demon¬ 
stration before God and man, must set before his 
mind continually the greatness of his high calling, 
which is of God in Christ Jesus, not allowing it to be 
regarded as secondary to any earthly dignity. In¬ 
deed, he should magnify his office as one divinely 
appointed to promote the moral welfare of men and 
nations, and transcending in the greatness of its de¬ 
sign all human offices. It conduces primarily to the 
spiritual good of immortal souls, and ultimately to the 
consummation of God’s great plans for the establish¬ 
ment of the Redeemer’s kingdom. To be sent forth 
to preach the Gospel is to be appointed embassadors 
for Christ, as though God did beseech men by us to 
be reconciled to himself. This office too, when faith¬ 
fully performed, is destined to be crowned wdth the 
glories of eternity. Souls rescued from sin and death 
will be its immortal trophies. It will be forever 
identified with the destined victories of the cross and 
with the ultimate overthrow of Satan’s kingdom. If 
the patriot in the hour of battle needs to infiame his 
courage by thoughts of his country’s weal, so should 
leaders in Christ’s militant host think often of the 
sacred interests of the Church, for which the Redeemer 
shed his precious blood, and thus be quickened to the 
most self-denying efforts. 

2. A love for his worh. Through whatever agony 
of soul a man may have reached the conviction of a 
personal duty to preach the Gospel, when that con¬ 
viction is reached he should press it to his heart of 


LOVE AND DILIGENCE. 


411 


hearts. He has no right to go about the work of 
preaching the glorious Gospel complainingly or like 
a driven slave. He should make it his delight and 
his constant joy. 

3. He should show this love hy diligence^ zeal^ and 
faithfulness in the worh itself By such means he 
will gain an ever-increasing fitness for the holy office, 
and an augmented power for the discharge of its du¬ 
ties. The most diligent and thorough preparation 
will become habitual to him, and instead of his mate¬ 
rial being exhausted by use, he will find it to spring 
up, both in his mental conception and his religious 
experience, with increasing volume and freshness as 
he employs for God’s glory that which has fiowed 
from the same fountain before. As he becomes the 
spiritual adviser of his fiock, and learns, by visiting the 
poor and the distressed, and mingling in scenes of 
sickness, death, and mourning, how bitter is the cup 
of human sorrow, he will become more than ever 
qualified to administer the consolations of true relig¬ 
ion. And when similar affiictions come upon himself 
and those to whom he is bound by strong ties of 
affection, if faithful to his calling and the grace given 
to sustain him in it, his ministry will be tinged with 
deeper shades of meaning and a holier power of infiu- 
ence. As he becomes more deeply interested in pro¬ 
moting the salvation of men, not only will themes 
multiply for his choice, but rich and heavenly mate¬ 
rial will aggregate around them, conducing to a 
treatment more practical and powerful than is possi¬ 
ble in mere theoretic study. 

4. Preaching must he the great business of all who 
would wield the power of the pulpit. It must not be 
secondary to teaching, to authorship, to philosophical 
study, to science, nor, in fact, to anything. Many 


412 


DISCKETION. 


other good objects may come in as its auxiliaries, but 
whenever any one usurps priority of attention it will 
be at the expense of pulpit power. Facts show that 
but few men have been greatly celebrated or useful as 
preachers who did not, at least at the time of their 
success, make preaching their one great business. 

5. An important element of success in preaching is 
the purpose cmd habit of mahing everything subservi¬ 
ent to the grand object of the preacher''s life. 

As this topic has been alluded to under the head 
of special preparation, it here requires only the addi¬ 
tional remark that a minister should not only endeavor 
to turn his observation, experience, reading, and study 
to present account in preaching, but to accumulate 
from the same sources stores of material for future 
use. A classified record, particularly of his pastoral 
experiences, may in the course of years become ex¬ 
ceedingly valuable as a means of illustration to Gospel 
truth, while some systematic notation of the facts 
which his reading has accumulated will place at his 
instant disposition much material which long and 
special study might fail to secure. 

6. Discretion in the choice and adaptation of sub¬ 
jects to promote the moral welfare of hearers. 

In preaching it is important to say the right thing 
at the right time and in the right way. Opportuni¬ 
ties for doing good once passed are gone forever; 
but rightly improved, become helps for each succeed¬ 
ing opportunity. In the earlier part of a minister’s 
career he can only act upon theory; but if he is care¬ 
ful to observe the effect of his communications and 
of his manner he will soon gain increased confidence 
in right efforts and augmented power in the applica¬ 
tion of truth. As it is impossible to be eloquent in 
any important sense on trivial subjects, so it is impos- 


GOSPEL THEMES. 


413 


sible to wield the power of the pulpit without seizing 
upon those great and sublime topics which God has 
designed to be the means of rousing men’s consciences, 
and of stirring within them fears and hopes with ref¬ 
erence to their immortal destiny. In the conclusion 
of his work on the natural and supernatural, Bush- 
nell has a fine paragraph which corroborates this 
view: 

Preaching deals appropriately in the supernatural, publishing 
to guilty souls what has come into the world from above the 
world—Christ and his salvation. We ask how often, with real 
sadness, Whence the remarkable impotence of preaching in our 
time? It is because we concoct our gospels too much in the 
laboratories of our understanding; because we preach too many 
disquisitions, and look for effects correspondent only with the 
natural forces exerted. Sure preaching is a testimony; it offers 
not things reasoned in any principal degree, but things given, 
supernatural things, testifying them as being in their power by 
an utterance which they fill and inspire. It brings new premises, 
which of course no argument can create, and therefore speaks to 
faith. And, what is most of all peculiar, it assumes the fact, in 
men, of a religious nature, higher than a mere thinking nature, 
which, if it can be duly awakened, cleaves to Christ and his sal¬ 
vation with an almost irresistible affinity. Hence it is that so 
many infidels have been converted under preaching that went 
directly by their doubts, only bringing up the mighty themes of 
God and salvation, and throwing them in as torches into the 
dark, blank cavern of their empty heart. They are not put upon 
their reason, but the burning glow of their inborn affinities for 
the divine are kindled, and the blaze of these overtops their 
speculations and scorches them down by its glare. Doubtless 
there are times and occasions when something may be gained 
by raising a trial before the understanding. But there may also 
be something lost even in cases where that kind of issue is fairly 
gained. Many a time nothing is wanting but to speak as to a 
soul already hungry and thirsty, or if not consciously so, ready 
to hunger and thirst as soon as the bread and water of life are 
presented. Ho man is a preacher because he has something like 
or about a Gospel in his head. He really preaches only when 


414 


AN AIM BEYOND SUCCESS. 


his person is the living embodiment, the inspired organ, of the 
Gospel; in that manner no mere human power, but the demon¬ 
stration of a christly and divine power. It is in this manner 
that preaching has had, in former times, effects so remarkable. 

In tins manner only can its grand and glorious 
ideal be realized at the present time and in the future. 

Y. There must he in every case a higher aim than 
mere success as estimated hy man. 

There is danger of setting up standards of external 
progress with which to be satisfied, rather than aim¬ 
ing supremely and constantly at the salvation of souls 
and the glory of God, whether encouraged by appar¬ 
ent success or not. We should be jealous of the ap¬ 
plause of men, and should labor to secure the honor 
that comes down from God. We should trample in 
the dust the ambition of preaching sermons to be 
admired, and exalt our aims to the more worthy 
aspiration of winning souls to Christ as often as we 
open our lips in his name. 

8. A holy life and an influential Christian example. 

Without these our best sermons will pass for decla¬ 
mation, and those who hear them will retort upon us, 
“ Physician, heal thyself.” With these our very life 
will be eloquent, and even an imperfect or halting 
speech will be owned of God. In equal manner and 
to a corresponding degree will the highest capacities 
and the noblest attainments be blessed from on high 
as chosen agencies of pulpit power. 

9. The spirit and practice of deep devotion. 

Here is the sacred fountain from which our best 

thoughts and holiest emotions must flow. Here we 
must bring the richest trophies of our own study and 
our imagination to be consecrated as upon God’s 
altar, and to be baptized as with the dews of heav¬ 
enly inspiration. Having secured this precious bap- 


GOD’S BLESSING. 


415 


tism, our hearts will overflow, aud our lips will become 
a fountain of blessing to others. 

10. The blessing and unction of the Holy One. 

“ Without me,” says Christ, “ ye can do nothing.” 
But he enables his faithful apostle to say, “ I can do 
all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” 
The outpouring of the Holy Ghost and the gift of 
tongues of Are were simultaneous bestowments of 
God upon his Church; and while the former remains, 
the latter in its most important spiritual sense will 
not be wanting. O that every minister of the Lord 
Jesus might in every sermon experience the support 
and guidance of this assisting grace ! By such means 
only can he attain the full* measure of that power 
which the Master of assemblies waits to manifest 
through him for the salvation of perishing men. 


416 


ERRONEOUS VIEWS 


CHAPTEE XXL 

DIVINE ASSISTANCE IN PREACHING. 

ERRONEOUS VIEWS. 

Two classes of error prevail with respect to the 
subject of divine assistance in preaching the Gospel. 

Some seem to suppose that if a man is truly pious, 
and has a call from God to preach, he has only to 
open his mouth and it will be filled with arguments. 
Yiews of this class lead* to indolence, if not to pre¬ 
sumption. 

On the other hand, some persons reject the idea of 
special divine assistance, and teach the minister to 
depend wholly upon his own powers and exertions, 
and the general favor and providential blessing of 
the Lord. 

The truth lies between .these extremes. It is no 
more difficult for the Almighty to supply the assist¬ 
ance needed by his servants in special than in general 
forms. 

All Christian men, of course, acknowledge their 
dependence upon God for the capacity to speak at 
all. But as they enjoy this in common with other 
men, some inquire doubtfully whether they are to 
expect anything more than the ordinary gifts of life 
and health and reason. 

The position assumed in this chapter is that special 
divine aid should be sought, and may be expected as 
often as a Christian minister attempts to preach the 
Gospel. 

It may not be possible to define precisely in what 


AID NECESSARY. 


417 


form or degree this aid is received; and yet it is or 
may be a positive influence—what no lawyer or polit¬ 
ical speaker is authorized to expect—enlightening the 
mind, warming the heart, guiding the judgment, and 
even invigorating the physical frame, especially giv¬ 
ing fluency to the tongue. 

The proposition announced may he established by 
three classes of arguments, based on the nature of 
the case, the Holy Scriptures, and the experience 
of devout men in different ages of the Church. 

§ 1. The Hature of the Work renders Special 
Assistance from God highly probable. 

1. It is God’s work that the minister is sent to do. 

2. The work is great and difficult. 

3. Man’s unaided strength is inadequate to its 
right performance. 

“Who,” said the apostle, “is sufficient for these 
things?” 2 Cor. ii, 16. A few verses following he 
adds: “jN’ot that we are sufficient of ourselves to 
think anything as of ourselves; but our sufficiency 
is of God; who also hath made us able ministers of 
the new testament.” 

How, if it be admitted that the call of the Chris¬ 
tian minister is truly divine, and for an object worthy 
of the divine solicitude; that the minister needs help 
and that God is able to bestow it, is it not an una¬ 
voidable inference that the minister may receive and 
ought specially to seek the very assistance that he 
needs? But this question is not to be regarded 
merely in the light of probabilities. Let us, there¬ 
fore, consider the light thrown upon it by the Scrip¬ 
tures. 


27 


418 


AID PKOMISED. 


§ 2. The Sckiptukes make it cektaim that 
Assistance will be given. 

The Old Testament abounds in expressions which 
indicate that the Spirit of God was given to aid min¬ 
isters of religion, and especially the priests and proph¬ 
ets of the Jewish dispensation. 

As an example I quote Numbers xi, 25, 26 : ‘‘And 
the Lord came down in a cloud, and spake unto him, 
(Moses,) and took of the spirit that was upon him, 
and gave it unto the seventy elders: and it came to 
pass, that, when the spirit rested upon them, they 
prophesied, and did not cease. But there remained 
two of the men in the camp, the name of the one was 
Eldad, and the name of the other Medad: and the 
spirit rested upon them ; and they were of them that 
were written, but went not out unto the tabernacle: 
and they prophesied in the camp.” 

Also, 2 Sam. xxiii, 1, 2: “ David the son of Jesse 
said, . . . and the sweet psalmist of Israel said. The 
Spirit of the Lord spake hy me^ and his word was in 
my tongueT 

Job said, xxxii, 8 : “ There is a spirit in man : and 
the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them under¬ 
standing.” 

Ezekiel said, xi, 5: “ The spirit of the Lord fell 
upon me, and said unto me. Speak; Thus saith the 
Lord.” 

This last expression may be considered the formula 
of prophetic utterance. 

Such passages fully prove the bestowment of di¬ 
vine aid upon religious teachers among the Jews, 
without indicating any reason why it may not be 
equally granted under the Christian dispensation. 

The testimony of the Scriptures, with reference to 


AID PEOMISED. 419 

spiritual aid for the Christian ministry, may be di¬ 
vided into five classes: 

1. Indirect promises. 

2. Direct promises. 

3. Prayers for such aid. 

4. Acknowledgment of divine aid. 

5. Incidental proofs that it was sought and re¬ 
ceived by the apostles. 

In this chapter it is only necessary to give speci¬ 
men texts. 

1. Indirect promises. 

James i, 5, 6: “ If any of you lack wisdom, let 
him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and 
upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let 
him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” 

Remarks. Wisdom is specially needed in preach¬ 
ing the Word, and may be most appropriately asked 
for in faith. Under this head might be quoted all 
the numerous promises which pledge the divine aid 
in our formation of a Christian character. 

Every part of that character becomes auxiliary to 
preaching, and we are authorized to ask God for 
special grace according to our responsibilities. This 
special assurance was given to Paul when praying 
for a removal of the thorn in the fiesh. 

2 Cor. xii, 9 : “ My grace is sufiicient for thee.” 

He also appears in the following passage to have 
referred to divine assistance in preaching, as gener¬ 
ally provided for in the economy of grace. 

Eph. iii, 20, 21: How unto him that is able to do 
exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, 
according to the power that worheth in us, unto him 
be glory in the church of Christ Jesus.” 

2. The first direct promise to be quoted is that of 
the Saviour himself, which is coupled with the apos- 


420 


AID PEOMISED. 


tolic commission and a part of the same. Matthew 
xxviii, 19, 20: “ Go ye therefore, and teach all na¬ 
tions . . . and lo, I am with you always, even unto 
the end of the world.” 

As preaching was the great business of the apos¬ 
tles, to whom Christ’s presence was promised, they 
certainly were authorized to expect his aid in 
preaching. 

The several evangelists repeat Christ’s promise of 
aid to those of his disciples who should in persecu¬ 
tion be arraigned before governors and kings for his 
sake. 

Matthew x, 19, 20: “ It shall be given you in that 
same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that 
speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh 
in you.” 

Luke xii, 12: “For the Holy Ghost shall teach 
you in the same hour what ye ought to say.” 

Luke xxi, 15: “For I will give you a mouth and 
wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able 
to gainsay nor resist.” 

These passages are not quoted as wholly applicable 
to the subject of preaching. There was a wide and 
characteristic difference between the defense of the 
persecuted disciples and their free declaration of the 
Gospel. Yet the aid promised in the one case is 
precisely what is needed and may be expected in 
certain conditions of the other. 

But direct help in preaching was also specially 
promised by our Lord just prior to his ascension. 
Acts i, 8: “ But ye shall receive power, after that 
the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be 
witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all 
Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part 
of the earth.” 


AID ACKNOWLEDGED. 


421 


3. Prayers for aid. 

Eph. vi, 18,19 : Praying always with all prayer,” 
etc. ‘‘And for me, that utterance may be given unto 
me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known 
the mystery of the Gospel.” Col. iv, 3: “ Withal 
praying also for us, that God would open unto us a 
door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for 
which I am also in bonds.” 

4. Achnowledgments of aid. 

Luke more than once intimates that the Saviour 
himself was aided in preaching and giving command¬ 
ments to his disciples by the Holy Ghost. 

The apostles make repeated acknowledgment of 
similar influence. Paul said. Acts xxvi, 22: “ Having 
therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this 
day, witnessing both to small and great,” etc. 1 Cor. 
ii, 13: “Which things also we speak, not in the 
words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the 
Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with 
spiritual.” 2 Cor. xii, 9, 10: “ Most gladly therefore 
will I rather glory in my inflrmities, that the power of 
Christ may rest upon me. ... For when I am weak, 
then am I strong.” Col. i, 28, 29; “Whom we 
preach, warning every man and teaching every man 
in all wisdom; that we may present every man per¬ 
fect in Christ Jesus: whereunto I also labor, striving 
according to his working, which worketh in me 
mightily.” 2 Tim. iv, 17: “ Notwithstanding the 
Lord stood with me and strengthened me; that by me 
the preaching might be fully known, and that all 
the Gentiles might hear, and I was delivered out of 
the mouth of the lion.” 

5. Other joroofs that such aid was given to the 
apostles generally. 

Mark xvi, 20: “ And they went forth, and preached 


422 


PROOFS OF AID GIVEN. 


everywhere, the Lord working with them, and con¬ 
firming the word with signs following.” 

Acts ii, 4: ‘‘And they were all filled with the 
Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, 
as the Spirit gave them utterance.” 

Acts iv, 8: “ Then Peter, filled with the Holy 
Ghost, said unto them,” etc. 

Acts vi, 10: “ And they were not able to resist the 
wisdom and the spirit by which he (Stephen) spake.” 

1 Peter i, 12: “ Unto us they did (the prophets) 
minister the things which are now reported unto you 
by them that have preached the Gospel unto you 
with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.” 

The argument from the foregoing examples is 
plain and conclusive. 

Did the apostles receive divine aid in preaching ? 
So may we, having the same work and the like pre¬ 
cious promises. Did they pray for this great blessing? 
So should we in faith believing, and receiving answer 
to our prayers, should gratefully acknowledge the 
favor bestowed. 

§ 3. Experience of Devout Ministers. 

The experience of devout ministers in all ages 
of the Church shows that similar aid may still be ex¬ 
pected, and should be sought for by all who hope to 
preach the Gospel effectively. 

1. The best of ministers have felt and often ex¬ 
pressed their sense of need of the divine aid in their 
great work. 

This appears from numerous examples of ministe¬ 
rial autobiography. 

2. Such men have frequently acknowledged their 
consciousness of having received help from God both 
in the study and preaching of his holy word. 


MINISTEEIAL EXPERIENCE. 


423 


This fact also is so familiar to the readers of minis¬ 
terial biography that space will not be taken for 
examples. 

In addition to these ordinary experiences, there 
have not been wanting cases in which the sermon 
prepared by the faithful minister has been entirely 
displaced from his mind, and another one given to 
him, apparently for some important special purpose. 

While it would not be difficult to produce proofs 
of this position from every prosperous period of the 
history of the Church, the following, from the recently 
published life of the Rev. Dr. Bangs, will suffice as 
representative statements of the experience of intelli¬ 
gent and devoted ministers in reference to special di¬ 
vine aid in preaching. 

The first extract describes the very beginning of 
that great and good man’s career as a preacher when 
he was yet anxious, if not doubtful, respecting his di¬ 
vine call to the holy ministry. 

I was up early on Sunday morning and earnestly prayed for 
divine aid. My mind was sorely oppressed, and in family prayer 
I was much bound in spirit, and wished I had not undertaken 
the task. The principal part of the time after rising from my 
bed till the hour appointed for the meeting I spent upon my 
knees. I felt burdened with an insupportable load, and my mind 
was shrouded in darkness. I finally besought God that if he had 
called me to preach, he would be pleased to open my mouth, and 
bless me and the people with the consolation of his spirit; but 
if he had not called me, he would shut my mouth, and I would 
return home and try no more. After coming to this conclusion 
I was tranquil, and awaited the result with resignation. The 
people assembled, and after singing and prayer, I no sooner 
opened my mouth than the Lord filled it with words and argu¬ 
ments ; the Scriptures seemed like a fruitful field before me. The 
word of God was like fire in my bones, and its utterance was 
attended with the “ Holy Ghost and with power.” I felt as if I 
were in the very suburbs of the heavenly Jerusalem, and the 


424 


CONSCIOUSNESS OF AID. 


people of God were refreshed as with new wine. The Lord in¬ 
deed answered “ as by fire from heaven.” 

A few years later he writes : 

I then read for my text, “ Repent ye therefore, and be con¬ 
verted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of re¬ 
freshing shall come from the presence of the Lord.” In explaining 
and enforcing these words, I felt that my divine Master was 
with me in truth and power; every cloud was dispelled from my 
mind, and my heart overflowed with love for these people. I 
believe I preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven. 

hTearlj fifty years later he makes the following 
records: 

August 4, 1851. While speaking the Lord filled my heart 
with his love, and put words and arguments into my mouth of 
which I had not thought before, and they appeared to go like 
fire through the assembly. It was a time of refreshing from the 
presence of God. While preaching my heart expanded with 
enlarged views of the goodness of God, and my tongue was un¬ 
loosed to speak, I cannot but believe, in the Holy Ghost with 
much assurance. 0 how good is the Lord to me! 

Septemher 23. I had a blessed time in preaching Sabbath 
morning on the influence of the Holy Spirit. It seemed as if the 
fire of His inspiration came down upon me while speaking, and 
upon the assembly while listening, so that we were abundantly 
refreshed and strengthened, and felt as if we could go on our 
way rejoicing. I am deeply humbled under a consciousness of 
my utter unworthiness before God, and often wonder how it is that 
he condescends so abundantly to bless and comfort me. It is 
not surely for my sake, but for Christ’s sake, and for the sake of 
his people whom he loves, and to whom he sends me to minis¬ 
ter, that he pours the riches of his grace into my poor heart. 

The point of union between natural effort and 
supernatural aid> is doubtless that of the full exer¬ 
tion of our natural powers first and preparatory to 
the assistance we need. 

The gracious provisions of divine aid are not to be 


POINT OF UNION. 


425 


presumed upon as a matter of routine or for the en¬ 
couragement of indolence, but only to be expected 
when human effort has done its full work, and prayer 
and faith have brought God’s blessing upon it. 

The truth indeed has a certain inherent power, 
which it often exerts when indifferently uttered; but 
the preaching of the Gospel requires the full native 
force of truth applied with the highest human skill, 
and attended by the power of the Divine Spirit. 

This glorious combination every humble, faithful, 
and diligent minister may hope to attain aiorious comw- 
often, if not regularly, in his own experi- nation, 
ence. According to his labor and his faith it will 
doubtless be to him. As with reference to other 
mysteries of the Spirit of God, it is doubtless impos¬ 
sible to explain, or even fully comprehend, the man¬ 
ner of this divine and hallowed influence. But, as in 
all cases of religious experience, we are most concerned 
with the fact. 

The fact being provided for in the economy of 
grace, it is not limited to time; and those who would 
exercise an apostolic ministry must, with ardent sup¬ 
plications and self-denying labors, strive to realize it 
themselves, and hand it down to generations follow¬ 
ing both by precept and example. 


426 


PUBLIC PRAYER. 


CHAPTER XXII. 

PUBLIC PRAYER AS A BRANCH OF PULPIT 
SERVICE. 

It is impossible to overrate the responsibility of 
ministers in reference to a right conduct of the devo¬ 
tions of the sanctuary. Xo earthly act is more solemn 
than that of a whole assembly worshiping God. In 
Ministerial re- usually conductod in Christian 

sponsibiiity. temples, the minister becomes a leader to 
the people. How gross the error if he lead them 
astray from the fount of blessings! How delightful 
the privilege if he lead them to the very throne of the 
heavenly grace ! Ill-conducted public prayer is a 
stumbling-block and an offense to the pious, and a 
source of scoffing to the ungodly. Well-conducted, 
it softens the heart of the obdurate, quickens the re¬ 
ligious sensibilities of believers, and kindles pure 
flames of devotion in their souls. 

In offering public prayer the minister rises to his 
highest representative capacity. It therefore behooves 
him to guard carefully against every species of fault 
which might mar the influence of his devotional ut¬ 
terances, and to cultivate every excellence which 
might contribute to the religious ediflcation of his 
people, or conduce to the nearness of his own ap¬ 
proaches to God. The idea of the great solemnity 
of public worship gave rise to the use of liturgies, 
and is. the principal argument for their continued 
use. 

Within a certain limit, as that of flxed occasions 


FAULTS OF PUBLIC PRAYER. 


427 


somewhat rarely occurring, the argument is valid; 
but when extended beyond that limit it leads to a 
tautology and a stiffness widely at variance with the 
adaptation and holy freedom which ought to charac¬ 
terize the worship of the living God whether in 
public or in private. Without pausing to discuss the 
propriety or even the right use of liturgical forms, the 
present chapter will be devoted to extemporaneous 
prayer, which it will assume to be the normal mode 
of worship. It will present briefly, 1. Certain defects 
to be avoided; 2. The leading qualities essential to 
excellence; and, 3. Suggest the means to be em¬ 
ployed for the attainment of excellence in this 
important exercise. 

§ 1. Faults of Public Prayer. 

In this holy engagement anything is a fault which 
hinders the attainment of its appropriate object as a 
means of communion between man and his Maker. 
It is deemed unnecessary here to enumerate those 
moral impediments which debar access to God and 
make prayer a mockery. It is assumed that the 
minister has a right heart and pure intentions. But 
even with these it is possible for him seriously to err. 

1. As to the use of the voice. A common fault is 
indistinctness, especially at the commencement. Skill 
is necessary in giving to the voice a right pitch, so 
that all may hear distinctly, and yet so that there 
may be room to rise and fall with the progress of the 
prayer. Medium pitch or the natural key of the voice 
is ordinarily that which answers these purposes. Op¬ 
posite- to low indistinctness is the fault of too great 
loudness, which jars upon the nerves of the sensitive, 
and destroys all those tender and solemn intonations 
which are the true promptings and expression of de- 


428 


MANNER AND SPIRIT. 


votional feelings. Monotony and inflexibility, whether 
on a high or a low key, beget somnolence, and are at 
variance with that life and devout energy which ought 
to characterize public worship. 

2. to matter. Whatever is didactic or narra¬ 
tive has no proper place in prayer, and yet some 
ministers make, in what they call prayers, long and 
prosy statements of facts and principles, as though 
God, to whom their speech is addressed, needed in¬ 
struction.* The proper topics of prayer are so varied 
and so easily apprehended that there seems no apol¬ 
ogy for either irrelevance or sameness, and yet these 
both are common faults. Irrelevance may result not 
merely from the introduction of improper topics, but 
from the disproportionate use of some to the exclusion 
especially of petition or supplication, which should 
ever be the burden of the prayer of suppliants. 

Sameness may result not only froni identity of lan¬ 
guage, but from iteration of thought and from an 
invariable order. 

3. As to manner and spirit. Whatever in the 
utterance of prayer is out of harmony with the spirit 
of meekness and humble dependence on Almighty 
God is highly ofiensive. It hardly need be said that 
haughty airs, pert expressions, insensibility to sacred 

* I once knew a member of one of our presbyteries who, when called 
upon to make the ordaining prayer at the solemnity of setting apart a 
minister to the sacred office, went back to the beginning of time, traced 
the progress of civil and ecclesiastical society, alluded to the various 
plans of electing and ordaining the officers of the Church all along 
down through the patriarchal and ceremonial dispensations, and at 
length, after tiring out every worshiper with the tediousness of his 
deduction, he came to the New Testament dispensation, and made 
about one quarter part of his inordinately long prayer really adapted to 
the occasion on which he was called to officiate. During a large part 
of the time occupied by this prayer his hands, as well as the hands of 
his fellow-presbyters, were pressing on the head of the candidate, to 
the great discomfort of aU.—Z>r, Miller on Public Prayer. 


LENGTH OF PRAYEES. 


429 


things, or a straining after rhetorical effect, are greatly 
out of place in an act of worship. 

4. As to language. Coarseness and grammatical 
inaccuracies on the one hand, and studied ornament 
or rhapsodies on the other, are serious faults. Also 
the unnecessary repetition of phrases, such as “we 
beseech thee,” “ O,” and “ O Lord,” etc., etc. All 
colloquialisms and trivialities of expression are to he 
avoided, and equally the language of compliment; as 
when a preacher prays for the highly respectable and 
intelligent audience he is about to address, or when 
he invokes a blessing upon the very eloguertt sermon 
to which they have listened ! 

5. To the foregoing faults may be added that of 
too great length. The Scriptures are specific in con¬ 
demning long prayers, and especially those which are 
offered for a pretense or a formality. Tediousness in 
any form of speech is wearisome, but especially in an 
exercise of devotion, tending to dissipate pious feel¬ 
ings and induce languor. Mr. Wesley at an early 
day enjoined upon his preachers not to pray extem¬ 
pore more than eight or ten minutes at most without 
intermissions, and this rule still is highly appro¬ 
priate. 

It would be an ungrateful, perhaps an impractica¬ 
ble task to even classify all the faults which have 
been known to mar public prayer. The present 
topic may therefore be concluded by a few miscel¬ 
laneous remarks. 

Beyond assuming the appropriate posture of humil¬ 
ity, which is to kneel before our Maker, gesture should 
be avoided. The eyes should not be open, either in 
a vacant stare or gazing about upon the people, but 
reverently closed, as beholding Him who is invisible. 
It is, moreover, a serious fault in a minister not to 


430 


DESIRABLE QUALITIES. 


induce, by suitable instructions and example, orderly 
and reverent habits of public worship. 

Nothing short of actual disorder is more unseemly 
than the practice of standing or sitting upright and 
gazing to and fro when the Deity is addressed. Yet 
hundreds of people adopt that habit through the sim¬ 
ple lack of instruction as to the nature of worship 
and the appropriate modes of participating in it. 

§2. Qualities Essential to Excellence. 

As to manner and spirit every public prayer should 
be characterized by solemnity, fervor, and dignity, 
accompanied by the earnestness of faith, hope, and 
love, and crowned by the influence of the Holy Ghost 
helping our infirmities. 

As to matter, it should be rich in the appropriate 
topics of worship, suitably varied in arrangement, and 
speciflcally adapted to times, circumstances, and oc¬ 
casions. Adoration, confession, petition, and other 
kindred elements of prayer can never be irrelevant 
to public worship, but they do not need to be intro¬ 
duced always in the same rotation. They should in 
every instance be modified so as to express definitely 
the sentiments of the worshipers. It may be easy to 
confess the sins of other men, but God requires us to 
confess our own. Human wants are so numerous 
and so pressing that after suitable consideration the 
chief task of the minister will be that of a judicious 
selection and arrangement. His aim should be to 
set forth with clearness, but without detailed minute¬ 
ness, the necessity of individuals and classes in refer¬ 
ence to things temporal and spiritual, the present life 
and the life to come. Aside from the specific wants 
of the worshiping assembly, according to apostolic 
exhortation, “ supplications, prayers, intercessions 


AIDS TO EXCELLENCE. 


431 


and giving of thanks should be made for rulers, 
kings, and for all that are in authority, that we may 
lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and 
honesty, for this is good and acceptable in the sight 
of God our Saviour.” 

As to language, unaffected simplicity should pre¬ 
vail, hallowed by that lofty reverence which indicates 
a just sense of the reality of human access to God. 
For the sake of brevity, other good qualities will be 
incidentally noted under the following head. 

§ 3. Means of Attaining Excellence in Public 
Pkayer. 

1. Every minister should acquire a good under¬ 
standing of the general nature and the various ele¬ 
ments or parts of prayer, such as invocation, adora¬ 
tion, thanksgiving, supplication, etc. To this end it 
is well to peruse such standard treatises on prayer as 
those of Watts, Henry, Bickersteth, TreJSry, Entwis- 
le, and Miller. As the subject is not difficult, but 
highly congenial to every pious mind, any one of the 
treatises named ought to be sufficient to enable a per¬ 
son to comprehend it, and yet frequent reading of 
these books will hardly fail to be profitable. 

2. A great familiarity with Scripture expressions, 
and a capacity to use them appropriately in extem¬ 
poraneous prayer. 

In addresses to the Deity no language can be more 
suitable than that of Scripture. The words of inspi¬ 
ration are characterized by a dignity, an expressive¬ 
ness, and an unction infinitely superior to the phrases 
and adornments of human rhetoric. 

Although the Bible contains but few examples of 
formal prayer, yet it abounds in devotional expres¬ 
sions, and with statements of sacred truth that with a 


432 


SCRIPTUKAL LANGUAGE. 


Memorization 
of 


Power to quote. 


slight paraphrase may be adapted to the uses of public 
or private worship. For this purpose they have been 
employed in ages past, and their adaptation to it will 
never diminish. Few acquisitions are of 
Scripture, greater importance than the memorization 
of an ample selection of passages of the divine word in 
close association with the various attributes of God, the 
character and necessities of men, the leading features 
of the plan of salvation, and the glorious provisions 
of the Gospel of grace. Indeed, all Scripture given 
by inspiration of God is not only profitable for doc¬ 
trine, for reproof, and for instruction in righteousness, 
but also for the assistance of man in offering accepta¬ 
ble worship. Hence no man of God can be considered 
thoroughly furnished for the good work of 
leading the devotions of a public assembly 
who cannot quote with facility and appropriateness 
great numbers of passages of Scripture. Such an ac¬ 
quisition, even apart from direct quotations, will tend 
to impregnate the devotional style of a minister with 
a befitting scriptural character. The best liturgies 
that have come down to us from past ages glow with 
sacred phrases and imagery, and it is in the power 
of every minister by study and effort to cause his 
prayers to partake of the same characteristics, and 
thus exert a most elevating influence on the religious 
feelings of others. In few respects does the divinity 
of the sacred volume appear more striking than in 
its wonderful adaptation to express the changing sen¬ 
timents and feelings of the human heart. And as its 
teachings are familiar to all Christian people, there is 
no other language so well adapted to aid in arousing 
the solemn reflections, the adoring gratitude, and the 
immortal hopes of a worshiping congregation. 

The classification and paraphrase of Scripture 


PRIVATE DEVOTION. 


433 


ander the various heads of prayer given in the Ap¬ 
pendix * is designed to suggest the manner in which 
ministers may quote inspired language in their pub¬ 
lic devotions. It is after the manner of Bishop 
Wilkins, as developed in his “ Gift of Prayer,” pub¬ 
lished in 1690, and may be enlarged to any desirable 
extent. 

3. A deep personal piety, cultivated by habitual 
private devotion. This, which is so important as an 
aid to preaching, is indispensable for the edifying 
conduct of public prayer. In such an exercise talent 
is of little avail, unsanctified by grace and the spirit 
of holiness; but in reference to the duty of public 
worship, the precept and promise of our Saviour have 
a special application. “Enter into thy closet, and 
when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father 
which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in 
secret shall reward thee openly.” Matt, vi, 6. 
Only he who by earnest and heartfelt intercourse 
with God has learned the language of divine com¬ 
munion aan possibly offer prayer to the edification of 
others. 

4. Meditation. Special preparation for this exer¬ 
cise ip as appropriate as for preaching. It may be 
secured by Scripture study and meditation, by means 
of which the devotional aspects of subjects are brought 
vividly before the mind. It may also be secured by 
devotional reading and composition. The former 
brings the mind in unison with the experience of the 
devout, and often stimulates it to a higher and holier 
activity. The latter is specially important, not as a 
means of accumulating fine and polished expressions, 
but as an agency for detecting redundancies, framing 
the style, and developing continuous and appropriate 

* See Appendix C. 

28 


434 


PKIVATE DEVOTION. 


devotional thought. It is no less to he commended 
as a means of improvement in private than in public 
prayer. Without at least an occasional resort to the 
discipline of careful writing there is danger of falling 
into a monotonous routine, as unfriendly to personal 
improvement in piety as to the proprieties of an ele¬ 
vated devotional style. 

It would be easy to multiply suggestions upon a 
subject so vitally important, but they would only be 
of the same tenor of much that has been heretofore 
suggested as auxiliary to ministerial success. What¬ 
ever elevates a man in the likeness of his Maker, 
whatever brings him into closer spiritual relations 
with the Author and Finisher of faith, will qualify 
him better both to dispense the word of life to others, 
and to lead the devotions of Christian worshipers. 


APPEiTDIX. 




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APPENDIX 


A. 

SCHOLASTIC LITERATURE OF HOMILETICS. 

Twelfth Century. —Guibert de Nogent^ an abbot, who died 
in 1124, left behind him a treatise on the proper method of 
making a sermon. The most important ideas it contains are the 
following: 

1. The preacher should exercise his talent as often as prac¬ 
ticable. 

2. He should never ascend the pulpit without prayer. 

3. He should, above all things, be short, and rather dwell on 
practical than on dogmatical subjects. 

This idea he enforces by exhorting preachers to remember how 
much better it is that a few things should be heard with pleasure 
and retained, than that out of a multitude nothing should be 
carried away. 

He also remarks that some in his day renounced preaching, 
from the fear of vainglory and the dread of being called ser- 
moners and ventriloquists. 

From this representative of the twelfth century we come down 
to the THIRTEENTH, in which we find note oiWilliam^ Archbishop 
of Paris, who wrote a meager work entitled Rhetorica Dimna; 
and Humbert de Romanis^ a general of the order of St. Dominic. 
The latter prepared a treatise on the Institution of Religious ^ 
Preachers, in the second book of which he professes to teach “ a 
way of promptly producing a sermon for any set of men and for 
every variety of circumstances.” It will require no great effort 
to conjecture the depth and philosophical character of such a 
treatise. 

Whatever works appeared on this subject for the next three 
hundred years were either so valueless or of such obscure author- 




488 SCHOLASTIC LITERATUKE OF HOMILETICS. 


ship as not easily to be identified. An exception in the last 
respect may be made in favor of a compilation made about 1500 
by JoTin Reuchlin^ entitled Liber Congestorum de Arte Prcedi- 
candi^ which went through several editions. 

For our next examples we come down to the days of the 
Refokmation. That period which so greatly agitated the minds 
of men on religious subjects, gave rise to numerous productions 
with reference to preaching. Most of them, however, were 
brief, and of such moderate ability as to call for no notice at the 
present day. 

Next on the list of works known to after years is that of 
Philip Melancthon^ which dates from 1517. It is entitled Ratio 
Brevissima Goncionandi: a Brief Treatise on Preaching. The 
following is a summary of its contents. 

I. The different parts of a discourse. 

1. The exordium. 2. The narration. 3. The proposition. 
4. The arguments. 5. Confirmation. 6. Ornaments. 
7. Amplification. 8. Confutation. 9. Epilogue. 10. Per¬ 
oration. 

II. Of simple themes, with examples. 

III. Of complex themes. 

IV. Of the explanation of different meanings. 

V. An example of deliberative discourse. 

Rem. 1. The principal work of a preacher is to instruct. 

2. There are two kinds of sermons. (1. Didactic. 
(2. Demonstrative. 

3. On the four senses of Scripture. 

4. On method. " 

In 1535 Erasmus wrote a work entitled Ecclesiastes^ sire Gon- 
cionator Erangelicus: Ecclesiastes; or, the Evangelical Preacher. 
It extended through some 320 pages, quarto, and was divided 
into four books, as follows: 

Book I. On the dignity, diflSculty, piety, purity, prudence, and 
other virtues which should be cultivated by the preacher. 

Book II. On the studies of a preacher, parts of a sermon, etc. 
Book III. On delivery, metaphor, adaptation, etc. 

Book IV. On the threefold character of the priesthood; topics 
or commonplaces, etc. 

Appendix. On the mode of prayer. 


AUTHORS IN LATIN. 


439 


The above-quoted works are justly celebrated. Their authors 
were learned men, and it may be safely assumed that their 
treatises on preaching excelled in value any others of their 
period. That of Melancthon is the most valuable for practical 
purposes, although that of Erasmus is best known, since, ow¬ 
ing to the superior Latin of which the author was master, it has 
been sometimes prescribed as a text-book in schools and colleges. 
Both exhibit, with some of the formalities of scholasticism, the 
awakening power of the new era upon which the world was 
entering. 

In 1580 Charles Borromeo^ Bishop of Milan, wrote a tract 
entitled Be Instructions Predicatoris: on the Education of a 
Preacher: This work, although not celebrated for anything new 
or remarkable in its contents, represents the reaction in behalf of 
preaching already taking place in the Roman Catholic Church 
as a result of the Reformation. 

In 1583 Martin Chemnitz published Methodus Concionandi: 
a Method of Preaching. 

Chemnitz was a disciple of Melancthon, and his Methodus was 
a respectable echo of the Ratio Breoissima of his instructor. He 
also wrote a work on the Council of Trent, which was much 
esteemed. 


B. 

MODERN AUTHORS ON HOMILETICS. 

LATIN. 

At the period of the Reformation, and for a century later, 
European books designed for the learned were written in Latin, 
then the language of the schools in all countries. A great num¬ 
ber of treatises on preaching, both by Protestant and Roman 
Catholic authors, appeared during the latter part of the sixteenth 
and the early part of the seventeenth centuries. 

Those first enumerated will serve as specimens of their titles, 
their precise date not being known. 

Hen. Alsted, Theologia Prophetica. 

Joh. Clark, Oratorim Sacrce llKLaypac^ia. 



440 


AUTHORS IN ENGLISH. 


Lamb. Danaei, Methodus S. Scripturce in Concionibm Trae 
tandcB. 

Barth. Keckermanus, De RTietorica Ecclesiastica. 

Geor. Lsetus, De Ratione Goncionandi ad Method. Anglican. 

Jo. Segobiensis, De Prcedicatione Evangelica. 

Abra. Schulteti, Axiomata Goncionandi. 

Bishop Wilkins, from whose “ Gift of Preaching ” the fore¬ 
going titles are derived, says: “There are above forty other 
authors who have writ particularly upon this subject recited by 
Draudius in his Bibliotheca Glassica^ under the head of Goncio- 
natorum Instructio.’'’' 

On the supposition that they answered a purpose at the time 
of their issue, we may be content to leave them in their present 
obscurity, as it is not to be supposed that they contain anything 
of importance which has not descended to us in other forms. 

1620. F. Ben. Ferrarii Mediolensis, De Ritu Sacrarum Gon- 
cionum. Libri duo. Mediolani e Collegia Ambrosiana, typ. 

Gaussen, De Arte Goncionandi. This work Ostervald (Essay, 
etc., 1700) pronounces “the best extant.” He says, “It is a 
book you should constantly read, and study, and make your 
pocket companion. Of all the French divines he best understood 
the defects of the Reformation.” 

Numerous volumes in Latin, written and compiled by undis¬ 
tinguished authors, appeared in Germany during the latter part 
of the sixteenth and the whole of the seventeenth century; for 
example, Hyperius, 1553; Osiander, 1582; Andrae, 1595; Reb- 
han, 1625; Carpzov, 1666; Baier, 1677. 

ENGLISH. 

I. WORKS TREATINO DIRECTLY ON THE SUBJECT OF PREACHING. 

1613. Perkins, William, Art of Prophesying. As this work 
is one of the most celebrated of its date, and is now extremely 
rare, the full title is subjoined, with an abstract of its contents 
and a few extracts of striking passages. 

“ Arte of Prophecying, or a treatise concerning the sacred and 
onely trve manner & method of preaching. First written in 
Latin, by Mr. William Perkins, and now faithfully translated 
into English (for that it containeth many worthy things fit for 
the knowledge of men of all degrees) by Thomas Tuke. Motto, 
Nehemiah viii, 4, 5, 6. Cambridge, 1613.” 


AUTHORS IN ENGLISH. 


441 


Extract from the dedication : 

To the faithfull minister of the Gospel: 

That common place of divinity which concemeth the framing of 
sermons is both weighty and difficult, if there he any other throughout 
all that sacred science. The dignitie thereof appeareth in that like a 
Ladie it is highly mounted and carried aloft in a chariot; whereas all 
other gifts, both of tongues and arts, attend on this, like handmaides 
aloofe off. 


Contents: 

Chap. I. The Art or faculty of prophecying is a sacred doctrine of 
exercising Prophecie rightly. 

II. Of the Preaching of the Word. 

III. Ofthe Wordof God. 

IV. Of the interpretation of the Scriptures. 

V. Of the waies of expounding. 

VI. Of the right dividing of the Word. 

VII. Of the waies how to use and apply doctrines. 

VIH. Of the kinds of application, either mental or practical. 

IX. Of memorie in preaching. 

X. Promulgation or uttering of the Sermon. 

In this 2 things requisite: 1. The hiding of human wi8% 
dom ; 2. The demonstration of the Spirit. 

XI. Of conceiving of prayer. 

Extract from Chapter ix: 

Of Memorie in Preaching. 

Because it is the received custom for preachers to speak by heart be¬ 
fore the people something must here be annexed concerning memory. 

Artificial memorie which standeth upon places and images will very 
easily without labor teach how to commit sermons: hut it is not to he 
approved. 1. The animation of the image which is the key of memorie 
is impious: because it requireth absurd, insolent and prodigious cogita¬ 
tions, and those especially which set an edge upon and kindle the most 
corrupt affections of the fiesh. 2. It dulleth the wit and memorie, 
because it requireth a threefold memorie for the one: the first of places, 
the 2d of the images, the third of the thing to be declared. 

It is not therefore an unprofitable advice if he that is to preach do 
diligently imprint in his mind, by the help of disposition either axiomat¬ 
ical or syllogistical or methodical, the several proofs & applications of 
the doctrines, the illusl.rations of the applications & the order of them 
all: in the meantime nothing carefull of the words which (as Horace 
speaketh) will not unwillingly follow the matter that is meditated. 

Verha que prorisam rem not invita sequenter. 

Their study hath many discommodities who doe con their written 
sermons word for word. 1. It asketh great labor. 


442 


AUTHORS IN ENGLISH. 


2. He which through fear doth stumble at one word doth both 
trouble the congregation and confound his memorie. 

3. Pronunciation, action, and the holy motions of affections are hin¬ 
dered ; because the mind is wholly bent on this, to wit, that the mem- 
orie fainting now under her burden may not fade. 

1617. IIiEEON, Sam. “ The Preacher's Plea^ a Treatise in 
forme of a plaine dialogue, making known the worth & necessity 
of that which we call preaching; showing also how a man may 
profit by it both for the informing of his judgement and the re¬ 
forming of his life.” 

The above is a dialogue between a minister and hearer, for 
the benefit of the latter. 

The same author wrote a tract on the Dignity of Preaching ; 
useful in its time, no doubt, but of no importance now. 

1656. Bishop Chappel, (of Cork.) The Preacher. 

This, like the two foregoing, appears to have been first writ¬ 
ten in Latin and afterward translated. 

The Latin treatise was entitled Methodus Concionandi^ and 
published in London, 1648, the year before the author’s death. 

1664. Seppens, Robert. The Preacher "'s Guard and Guide 

in the didactical part of his duty: wherein is discussed : 

“ I. The duty of preaching in general. 

“ II. To whom it primarily belongs. 

“ III. How managed in the Ancient Church. 

“IV. What innovations these later times have made.” 

1667. Bishop Wilkins. Gift of Preobching. “Ecclesiastes; 
or a discourse on the Gift of Preaching, as it falls under the rules 
of art. By John Wilkins, D.D., Lord Bishop of Chester.” 

This was altogether the most valuable work of its period. It 
reached its seventh edition in 1693, in the same volume with 
another excellent treatise by the author on the Gift of Prayer. 

The “ Gift of Preaching” has several times been republished, 
in whole or in part, as in “ Williams’s Christian Preacher,” where 
it forms discourse first. It contains some excellent suggestions, 
but is most useful to the modern student as illustrating the con¬ 
tinued use and the most approved forms of the scholastic method 
of preaching as adopted by the Reformers. 

The following extract will serve as an example: 

( Teach clearly. 

The principal scope of a divine orator shouldbe to ^ Convince strongly, 

[ Persuade powerfully. 


AUTHORS IN ENGLISH. 


443 


r Explication, 

Suitable to the chief parts of a sermon are these three, K Confirmation, 

L Application. 

Each of these may be further subdivided and branched out ac¬ 
cording to the following analysis. [One topic, as a specimen, must 
sufiice.] 

2. Confirmation may be managed in 
' Doctrinal points, either by 
r PosUiveproqfs^ whether 
( Testimony.^ 

Divine^ from Scripture, 

j Direct.^ affirmation or negation, 

( Evident^ consequence. 

H'uman for such matters as are 

' Moral and suitable to natural reason, by the consent 
of the most or wisest of the heathen; 

- Instituted^ or points of faith by CouncDs, Fathers, 
Confessions of Churches, or such particular writ- 
. ers whose names have come to be of authority. 
Reason^ from some of the nine topics. Cause, Effect, Subject, 
Adjunct, Dissentan, Comparates, Name, Distribution, 
L Definitions. 

. Solution of such doubts as are 


j Obvious, 
( Material. 


Practical points, either by— 

' Positive proofs^ whether 
' Testimony.^ 

Divine^ from Scripture precepts or prohibitions, commenda¬ 
tions or dispraise, promises and blessings, or threats and 
judgments. 

^ Human^ in duties 

'Morale by the consent and practice of the wiser heathen. 
Instituted.^ namely, such as we should not have known 
or been obliged unto unless they had been revealed 
and commanded, in Scripture, by Coimcils, Fathers, 
Confessions, etc. 

Reasons proving the 

j Equity and fitness of any thing; 

( Necessity upon the account of 
r Duty, 

-c Interest, or the advantage accruing to us by the observ- 
L ance of any duty with respect to our wellbeing 

( Temjooral, Health, Riches, Honor, Pleasure, Peace, 
J Safety. 

I Spiritual, 

L Eternal. 

Experience. 

. Solution of doubts and cases. 










444 SCHOLASTIC LITERATUKE OF HOMILETICS. 

1678. Glanyil, Joseph. Essay concerning Preaching 
ten for the direction of a young divine.” 

The author was Prebendary of Worcester, and his essay was a 
plain and sensible treatise. London. 

1705. Edwaeds, John, D.D. “ The Preacher; a discourse 
showing what are the particular offices and employments of those 
of that character in the Church; with a free censure of the most 
common failings and miscarriages of persons in that sacred em¬ 
ployment.” 

The author was a Calvinistic divine of the Church of England, 
prominent as a writer and controversialist. The freedom of his 
criticisms provoked a reply by Robert Lightfoot, which led to a 
vindication and rejoinder. Two additional parts to the Preacher 
were issued in 1706 and 1709. London. 

1710. (?) Mather, Cotton. The Student and Preacher. 
“ Manductio ad Ministerium ; or, directions for a candidate of the 
ministry, wherein 

“ 1. A right foundation is laid for his future improvement. 

“ 2. Rules are offered for such a management of his academ¬ 
ical and preparatory studies: and upon that for 

“ 3. Such a conduct after his appearance in the world as may 
render him a skillful and useful minister of the Gospel.” Latest 
edition, London, 1789. R. Hindmarsh. 

This work has the distinction of being the first American i)ro- 
duction on this class of topics. It has, however, been better 
known in England than in this country, where it is not known to 
have been republished. Two editions were published in London, 
the first known as Mr. Ryland’s edition, the second in 1789, 
“ carefully revised and corrected by a lover of the Gospel,” and 
containing also an abridgment of Mr. Ryland’s preface. Copies 
of the last-named edition, although now very rare, may still be 
occasionally found. It is a small 12mo. of 250 pages. The style, 
though in a less degree than in some of the author’s works, 
smacks of the pedantic. The English text is introduced by a 
stately Latin preface, and the several pages are headed “ The 
Angels preparing to sound the Trumpetsf 

The greater part of the work relates to the scholastic and re¬ 
ligious character of the preacher, in which high and creditable 
ground is taken. In the brief sections which relate more espe¬ 
cially to preaching are a few gems too bright to be left buried in 
the rubbish of the past. 




AUTHOES IN LATIN. 


445 

The first thing which I have to demand of you is that you entertain 
the people of God with none hut well-studied sermons, and employ 
none but well-beaten oil for the lamps of the golden candlestick. 

When you are to preach, you should go directly from your knees in 
your study to the pulpit. 

Your sermon must also be such that you may hope to have the blood 
of your Saviour sprinkled upon it, and his good Spirit breathing in it. 

Let the motto upon your whole ministry be, “Christ is all.” 

Be a star to lead men unto the Saviour, and stop not till you see them 
there. 

Be careful evermore to preach scripturally, and employ the sword of 
the Spirit if you would hope to do execution. 

If you must have your notes before you in preaching, yet let there be 
with you a distinction between the neat using of notes and the dull 
reading of them. Keep up the air and life of speaking, and put not off 
your hearers with an heavy reading to them. How can you demand of 
them to remember much of what you bring to them, when you remem¬ 
ber nothing of it yourself? Besides, by reading all you say you will 
BO cramp and stunt all ability of speaking that you will be unable to 
make an handsome speech on any occasion. What I therefore advise 
you to is, let your notes be little other than a quiver on which you may 
cast your eye now and then to see what arrow is to be next fetched from 
thence, and then, with your eye as much as may be on them whom you 
speak to, let it be shot away with a vivacity of one in earnest for to have 
the truths well entertained with the auditory. 

1712. Blackwell, Thomas, Prof, of Div. and Prin. Marischal 
College, Aberdeen. ^'"Methodus E'oangelica ; or. Discourses upon 
the Homiletical, Textual, and Occasional methods of preaching.” 
London. 

1715. Baeeoeofts, J., D.D. “Ars Concionandi; or, an in¬ 
struction to young students in divinity, with rules for preaching 
or advice to all novices in that divine art.” London. 

1723. Jennings, Dr. John. “ Discourses on preaching Christ, 
and on particular and experimental preaching.” London. 

The author was the tutor of Dr. Doddridge. His work is 
reproduced in Williams’s Christian Preacher. 

1731. Blaokmoee, Sir Eiohaed. The Accomplished Preach¬ 
er ; or, an essay upon divine eloquence.” London. 

1751. Doddeidge, Philip. “ Lectures on Preaching and the 
ministerial oflBce.” 

These lectures were delivered to his own clerical students, and 
left in manuscript at his death. They are published in his 
works, and also in a small 24mo. volume, reprinted at Andover, 
1833. 


446 


AUTHORS IN ENGLISH. 


1754. Foedtoe, David, Professor of Phil., Marischal College, 
Aberdeen. “ Theodorus ; a dialogue on the art of preaching.” 

Usually printed and hound with the following: 

1754. Foedyoe, Rev. James, Minister in London. Eloquence 
of the Pulpit^ a sermon: and Action of the Pulpit^ an essay.” 

1772. Gibbons, Thomas, D.D. The Christian Minister; 
three poetical epistles, addressed to Philander.” London: 
Buckland. 

A feeble production. 

1775. Campbell, Geoege, LL.D., F.R.S., Principal of Ma¬ 
rischal College, Aberdeen. “ Lectures on Pulpit Eloquence^ 

These lectures, from the author of the Philosophy of Rhetoric 
and other well-known works, have been several times reprinted 
in America. 

1780. Holland, P. Discourse on the character, offices, and 
qualifications of the Christian preacher.” London. 

The author was a Unitarian, and his discourse was based on 
Titus ii, 15. 

1787. Geegoet, Geoege, F.A.S. “ Thoughts on the compo¬ 
sition and delivery of a sermon.” London: J. Johnson. 

Published in connection with a volume of sermons, and dedi¬ 
cated to the Archbishop of Canterbury. 

1800. Williams, Edwaed, D.D. “ Christian Preacher; con¬ 
taining, in part or in whole, the works of Wilkins, Jennings, 
Franck, Watts, Doddridge, and Claude.” 

The fifth edition of the above was published in 1843, with a 
valuable appendix, suggesting books for the preacher’s library. 
London: Thomas Tegg. 

1805. St. John’s “ Composition of a Sermon^ adapted to the 
Church of England.” 

Published in the same volume with a translation of the work 
of Reybaz, a French Jesuit, on the Art of Preaching. . 

1809. Beamwell, William. “ The Salvation PreacherP 

Bramwell was a Wesleyan minister, of extraordinary power 
and success. “You could trace,” says one of his biographers, 
“ the footsteps of William Bramwell by the penitents, converts, 
and sanctified believers he left behind him.” 

His “ Salvation Preacher ” was a compilation and abridgment 
from D’Oyley’s translation of Gisbert’s Christian Eloquence. One 
of his letters speaks of it, incorrectly, ,as from a translation of St. 
Chrysostom on the Priesthood. 


AUTHORS IN ENGLISH. 


447 


The preface states his object in its publication to have been 
twofold: “ first, to rouse from slumber those preachers who, 
from a profession of depending wholly upon the Lord for every¬ 
thing, neglect the proper means for improving the judgment and 
-exciting the affections.” “ Second, to preserve the studious min¬ 
ister from that dependence on his studies which prevents the 
immediate influence of the Holy Spirit in the act of preaching.” 

This book is now extremely scarce; but its existence proves 
that an honored class of evangelists, often characterized as indif¬ 
ferent to the graces of oratory, had in fact a high appreciation of 
both the theory and practice of Christian eloquence, even though 
.illustrated by a Roman Catholic author. 

1819. Clarke, Adam, LL.D. “ Letter to a Preacher^ on his 
entrance into the work of the ministry.” 

This work is still published at the Methodist Book Rooms, 
i^ew York, in connection with the Claris Bihlica of Dr. Clarke, 
and four discourses on the duties of a minister of the Gospel, by 
Thomas Coke, LL.D., originally published in 1810. Title of the 
volume, “ Preacher’s Manual.” 

1819. Porter, Ebenezer. The Young Preacher ''s Manual; 
or, collection of treatises on preaching: comprising BrowrCs 
Address to Students in Divinity, Fenelon's Dialogues, Blaude's 
Essay, Gregory on the Composition and Delivery of a Sermon, 
Beyhaz on the Art of Preaching. Selected and revised by Eben¬ 
ezer Porter, D.D., Bartlett Professor of Sacred Rhetoric in The¬ 
ological Seminary, Andover.” Boston : Charles Ewer. 

1820. Ritchie, Andrew. Christian Preacher"'s Assist¬ 

ant; consisting of rules and observations designed to conduct 
him to the most eligible method of preparing and delivering ser¬ 
mons. London.” 

1822. Burder, Henry Foster. ^'‘Mental Discipline; or, 
hints on the cultivation of moral and intellectual habits. Ad¬ 
dressed to students in theology, and young preachers.” 

Edition published in New York, 1830, including an address on 
Pulpit Eloquence, by Justin Edwards, D.D. 

1824. Ware, Henry, Jr. “ Hints on Ex temporaneous Preach- 
ingP 

The author was a Unitarian Minister, and a professor in the 
theological school at Cambridge. The work is brief and able, . 
and in no respect objectionable. It is now reprinted in Ripley’s 
Sacred Rhetoric. Boston : Gould & Lincoln. 


448 


AUTHORS IN ENGLISH. 


1825. Lloyd, R. “ Extenawe Inquiry into the important 
question, What it is to preach Christ, and what is the best mode 
of preaching him?” 

This is said to be a useful volume, containing some very good 
and judicious remarks on the composition and delivery of ser¬ 
mons, and displaying both eloquence and talent in the author’s 
observations on the mode of preaching Christ. London. 

1830. Pike, G. Essay on Preaching. London. 

1831. Bloom, J. H. Pulpit Oratory in the time of James L, 
considered, and principally illustrated by original examples, 
A. D. 1620-22. London: Longman, Reese, & Co. 

This work is only interesting as containing a few specimens of 
sermons written, and supposed to have been preached, at the 
period named. 

1834. PoRTEE, Ebenkzee, D.D. “ Xeciwm on homiletics and 
preaching, and on public prayer.” Andover: Flagg, Gould, & 
Newman. 

The author of the above-named volume was appointed to the 
professorship of Pulpit Eloquence in Andover Theological Sem¬ 
inary in 1811, as successor to Rev. Dr. GriflBn, the first incum¬ 
bent. The title of the professorship was, at his suggestion, 
changed to that of Sacred Rhetoric. He performed its duties for 
twenty-three consecutive years, and the publication of his lec¬ 
tures, just before his death, fitly crowned the labors of his use¬ 
ful life. 

The name of Dr. Porter-is permanently and* honorably associ¬ 
ated with the earliest systematic efforts in America to promote 
improvement in public speaking. It may be seen above that as 
early as 1819 he published a compilation of several treatises on 
preaching under the title of “ The Young Preacher’s Manual.” 
In 1824 he published, for the use of his students, a lecture on 
“Vocal Inflections,” which in 1827 was enlarged into a text-book 
for schools and colleges, entitled “ Analysis of the Principles of 
Rhetorical Delivery, as applied in Reading and Speaking.” In 
1831 he published a small volume of a still more elementary 
character, entitled the “Rhetorical Reader.” Both these vol¬ 
umes have been of great utility as school books, although 
they are now generally superseded by others of more recent 
date. 

In 1836 the author’s “Lectures on Eloquence and Style,” a 
part of his regular course at Andover, were published as a post- 


AUTHORS IN ENGLISH. 449 

humous volume. They possess decided merit, but have had only 
a limited circulation. 

In view of the intrinsic excellence of Dr. Porter’s “ Lectures 
on Homiletics,” as well as of their republication and favorable 
reception in England, it may be regarded as not very creditable 
to the denomination and theological school which the author 
represents that the book has been allowed to go out of print and 
become rare in this country. 

1835. Sumner, Charles R., Bishop of Winchester. “ The 
Ministerial Character of Christ practically considered.” Lon¬ 
don : Hatch ard & Son. 

1838. Sturtevant, S. T. Preacher'' s Manual. Lectures 
on preaching, with rules and examples for every kind of pulpit 
address.” London: Ward & Co. 

This work is a voluminous expansion of Claude’s Essay. 

1839. Sumner, John Biro, Lord Bishop of Chester. 
tolical Preaching Considered in examination of St. Paul’s epis¬ 
tles; also four sermons on subjects relating to the Christian 
ministry.” London. 

1839. Skinner, Thomas H. New York. '■'■Aids to preaching 
and hearing.” New York: J. S. Taylor. 

1840. Kendall, J. Wesleyan. '‘'‘Qualifications of an elo¬ 
quent preacher ; a lecture on Pulpit Oratory.” London. 

1840. Gresley, W. Ecclesiastes Anglicanus ; 2 . ow. 

preaching, as adapted to a Church of England congregation.” 
Reprinted in New York by Appleton. 

1841. Brioknell, W. S. “ Preaching; its warranty subject, 
and effects.” London. 

1842. Vaughan, Rev. Robert. “ The Modern Pulpit., viewed 
in relation to the state of society.” London: Jackson & Walford. 

1848. James, John Angell, of Birmingham. '‘'‘An Earnest 
Ministry the want of the times.” Republished in New York by 
M. W. Dodd, with an introduction by J. B. Condit, D»D. 

A large portion of this able work, perhaps the best its author 
ever published, is devoted to the exemplification of earnestness 
m the matter and manner of preaching. 

1848. Rawson, James. '‘'‘Hints on Pulpit Preparation; an 
essay on the composition and delivery of a sermon.” 18rao., 
85 pp. Boston. 

This essay was prepared and published at the instance of a 
district association of ministers of the Troy Conference, of which 

20 


450 


AUTHORS IN ENGLISH. 


the writer was then-a member. He subsequently entered the 
Protestant Episcopal Church, in the ministry of which he died. 

1849. Ripley, H. J. '■'‘Sacred Ehetoric; or, composition 
and delivery of sermons. With Ware’s Hints on Extemporane¬ 
ous Preaching.” Boston: Gould & Lincoln. 

The author was professor in a Baptist theological school. This 
volume was evidently designed as a text-book. 

1849. “ TJie Preacher and Pastor; containing, with an in¬ 
troductory essay by Edwards A. Park, FenUoiCs Dialogues, Her- 
berfs Country Parson, Baxters Reformed Pastor, Campbell's 
Pulpit Eloquence.” New York: M. AV. Dodd. 

1850. '■'’ Hints on preaching without reading.” 

Anonymous, but of Presbyterian autliorship. It is based upon 

a resolution of the General Assembly discountenancing the read¬ 
ing of sermons, and is very severe on the practice. Philadelphia: 
Lippincott. 

1850. Adams, Charles. '■'■Notes of the minister of Christ 
for the times, drawn from the holy Scriptures.” New York: 
Methodist Book Concern. 

Part third, comprising about one quarter of the work, is de¬ 
voted to the minister of Christ as a preacher. The whole is 
written in a graphic and impressive style. 

1854. Spring, Dr. G. “ The Power of the Pulpit; thoughts 
addressed to Christian ministers.” New York : Dodd. 

1855. Stevens, Abel,- LL.D. '■'■ Preaching Required ih.Q 
times.” New York: Methodist Book Concern. 

This is a spirited and popular volume, the greater part of which 
was originally published in the form of review and magazine 
articles. 

1855. Arthur, AVilli AM. "■ The Tongue of Fire." London: 
Hamilton, Adams, & Co.; New York: Harpers. 

Indirectly, this volume is a valuable contribution to Homiletics. 

1856. CuBiTT, George. '■'■Dialogues on pulpit preparation, 
between a senior and a junior minister, with sketches of ser¬ 
mons.” London: R. Needham. 

The author was a Wesleyan minister of some prominence. This 
volume was not published till after his death. It was followed 
by another, entitled “Outlines for Pulpit Preparation.” See 
“ Pulpit Aids.” 

1856. "■ Medieval Preachers and Preaching; a series of ex¬ 

tracts translated from the sermons of the Middle Ages, chrono- 


AUTHORS IN ENGLISH. 


451 

logically arranged, with notes and an introduction, by J. M. 
Neale, M.A., Warden of Sackville College.” London: I. H. 
Mozley. 

A fine contribution to the history of preaching, designed to 
vindicate the excellence of medieval sermons in comparison with 
those of modern times. 

1856. Fish, H. 0. Masterpieces of Pulpit Eloquence^ with 
historical sketches of preaching in different ages and countries.” 
2 vols., 8 VO. 

1857. Fish, H. 0. '■'‘Pulpit Eloquence of the nineteenth 
century; sern^ons and sketches of living divines.” 1 voL, 8vo. 
New York : M. W. Dodd. 

These three volumes exhibit representative discourses from all 
the most celebrated preachers in the successive periods of Church 
history. 

1857. Leifohild, John, D.D. “ Preaching and PreachersP 
An Inaugural Address, delivered at the opening of the new 

Baptist College, Regent’s Park; with an appendix, containing 
practical remarks on preaching and preachers. London : Ward 
& Co. 

1858. Christmas, Henry. "■ PreaMiers and Preachingf 
London. 

A work of very moderate ability, written by a minister of the 
Church of England. 

1858. Smith, George. “ The Local Preacher''s Manualf 
London. 

1859. Motile, Horace M. “ Christian Oratory: an inquiry 
into its history during the first five centuries.” Cambridge: 
Macmillan & Co. 

This essay obtained the Hulsean prize in the University of 
Cambridge, in the year 1858. It is both able and interesting. 

1859. Taylor, William, of California. “ The Model Preach¬ 
er ; a series of letters on the best mode of preaching the Gospel.” 
Cincinnati: Swormstedt & Poe. 

1859. Eadie, John, D.D. "-Paul the Preacher; a popular 
and practical exposition of his discourses and speeches as re¬ 
corded in the Acts of the Apostles.” Republished, New York: 
Carter & Brothers. 

1860. Murray, Nicholas, D.D. '■'Preachers and Preach¬ 
ing f New York: Harper & Brothers. 

This work, by the author of Kirwan’s Letters, is composed of a 


452 


AUTHOKS IN ENGLISH. 


series of letters originally published in the New York Observer. 
It is readable, but not equal in power to some of the author’s 
previous works. It has proved to be his last. 

1861. Alexander, James W., D.D. “ Thoughts on Preach¬ 
ing ; being contributions to Homiletics,” New York: Scribner. 

This volume is a posthumous publication, composed of several 
articles published in the Princeton Review, and sundry para¬ 
graphs from the private journals of the author, who for some 
years had contemplated a volume on Homiletics. It is greatly 
to be regretted that he did not live to complete his plans; for 
although the work, issued by a friend from the material left be¬ 
hind by Dr. Alexander, is valuable, it nevertheless lacks the 
completeness which he was so well able to supply. 

1861. Moore, Daniel. Thoughts on Preaching ; 
in relation to the requirements of the age.” London: Hatchard 
&Co. 

There is a striking coincidence between the date and title of 
this work and those of the preceding. The first, however, rep¬ 
resents the Old School Presbyterian Church of America, and the 
second the Church of England, having been written by the in¬ 
cumbent of Camberwell, and dedicated to the Lord Bishop of 
London. 

At present the most recent English work on this subject, it 
may also be pronounced one of the best. 

1863. Begg, James, D.D. “ The Art of Preaching^ and the 
duty of the Church toward her theological students.” Edin¬ 
burgh. 

1863. Wayland, Francis. Letters on the ministry of the 
Gospel.” Boston: Gould & Lincoln. 

Note.— In many, if not most, English and American works on the 
Christian Ministry and Pastoral Theology, the subject of preaching is 
treated to a greater or less extent, and sometimes quite ably; for exam¬ 
ple, Bridges on the Christian Ministry, Cannon’s Pastoral Theology, 
and Tefft’s Methodism Successful. 

II. PULPIT helps, so called. 

For the design of most works of this class, the author of the 
present volume cherishes not the slightest respect. Indeed, he 
omits no suitable opportunity of cautioning students against the 
use of the skeletons as well as the sermons of other men. This 
being understood, he sees no objection to such an acquaintance 


AUTHORS IN ENGLISH. 


453 


with this branch of literature as will enable one to make easy 
reference to other men’s labors for general information, for com¬ 
parison, etc. 

1771. Enfield, William. “ Preacher’s Directory; or, 
a series of subjects proper for discourses, arranged under differ¬ 
ent heads,.with texts under each.” 4to. London. 

1783. Cooke, John. “ The Preacher's Assistant^ containing 
a series of the texts, sermons, and discourses published singly or 
in volumes by the divines of the Church of England, and by the 
dissenting clergy, since the Restoration, 1660.” London. 

1808. Simeon, Chaeles. Helps to Composition; or, six 
hundred skeletons of sermons.” 5 vols. 

1819. Simeon, Charles. “ ATcmiZeiicfB ; or, discourses 
in the form of skeletons, digested into one continued series, and 
forming a commentary upon every book of the Old and New 
Testaments; to which is annexed an improved edition of Claude’s 
Essay.” 11 vols., 8vo. 

The “ Horse Homileticae ” form a principal portion of the entire 
works of Simeon, edited by Thomas Hartwell Horne, in 21 vols., 
8 VO. London: 1845. 

Regarded as a topical commentary on the Scriptures, this work 
is a monument of industry and sound judgment. In direct avail¬ 
ability to the minister, for the suggestion of themes and appro¬ 
priate thoughts for preaching, it has no superior. It cannot be 
doubted that sucli a work was greatly needed at the period of its 
issue, and that its publication exerted a most wholesome influence 
upon the ministers of the Church of England, for whom it was 
more especially designed. It contains not less than 2,536 skele¬ 
tons of discourses, or, as the author estimates in his preface, one 
for each day of seven consecutive years. Simeon seems to have 
accepted “Claude’s Essay on the Composition of a Sermon ” as 
the exponent of a new homiletical dispensation, and he himself 
became the great expounder of Claude’s system to the English 
public. This circumstance fixed an undesirable sameness upon 
his sketches, which are generally more to be admired for matter 
than for manner of construction, although it may be said that the 
author has usually illustrated the three great objects lie proposed 
to hims.elf in every discourse, namely, unity in design, perspicuity 
in arrangement, and simplicity in diction. 

Simeon’s consistent adherence to the latter quality of style is 
well illustrated in the following anecdote. A young composer 


454 


AUTHORS IN ENGLISH. 


of sermons was reading a discourse for the purpose of obtaining 
the approbation of the author of the “Horas Homileticm,” At 
Length he reached the following passage: “Amidst the tumult 
and ecstasy of the children of Israel, the son of Amram stood 
unmoved.” “The son of Amram!” interrupted Simeon; “the 
son of Amram! Who was he ?” “ Why, sir, I meant Moses.” 

“ Then,” thundered the critic, “ if you mean Moses why not say 
Moses?” 

The amiable spirit and the earnest evangelism of Charles Sim¬ 
eon will cause his name to be held in honored if not perpetual 
remembrance. His anxious efforts to harmonize Calvinists and 
Arminians by an avoidance of extreme views on both sides, an¬ 
ticipated by half a century the Catholicism of the Evangelical 
Alliance. 

1810-19. Hannah, Thomas. Pulpit Assistant; coniammg 
three hundred outlines or skeletons of sermons; with an essay 
on the composition of a sermon.” 5 vols., 18mo. 

Fifth edition, revised by J. Anderson, 1840. 1 vol., 8vo. 

1844. “ The Pulpit Cyclopedia ; or, Christian minister’s com¬ 
panion; containing three hundred and sixty skeletons and sketches 
of sermons, and eighty-two essays on Biblical learning, theological 
studies, and the composition and delivery of sermons.” 5 vols., 
London; 1 vol. 8vo., New York. 

1844. Sketches of four hundred sermons preached in vari¬ 
ous parts of the United Kingdom and on the European continent, 
furnished by their respective authors.” American edition, 4 vols. 
Philadelphia. 

1856. Ctjbitt, George. “ Outlines for pulpit preparation; 
being one hundred and fifty skeletons of sermons: the greater 
part prepared shortly before the author’s death, and never before 
published.” London: Needham. 

1860. ^'‘Pulpit Themes and Preacher's Assistant; outlines 
of sermons by the author of ‘ Helps for the Pulpit.’ ” Philadel¬ 
phia : Smith & English. 

In this class of works may be included The Homilist^ a periodical 
published for the last ten or twelve years by Ward & Co.,‘London, 
and an abridgment of the same published in one volume by Carlton 
& Porter, New York. 

III. PUBLISHED SERMONS. 

Every good sermon that has been published to the world may 
be considered as a contribution to the literature of homiletics. 


AUTHORS IN ENGLISH. 


455 


Published sermons, in fact, form the staple of what is usually 
denominated homiletical literature. They are numerous in the 
languages of all Christian countries ; most of all in the English 
language. 

Sermons are usually published for the benefit of laymen. They 
are most extensively read by ministers. To the latter they have 
especial interest as examples in respect to style, doctrine, and 
mode of construction. No minister should attempt to read all 
the sermons that may fall in his way; no one should voluntarily 
fail to read, and even study, some of the sermons of the great 
representative preachers of difierent countries, and of the suc¬ 
cessive periods of the Church. For single specimens of such 
sermons, no work is more convenient or suitable than the “ Mas¬ 
terpieces of Pulpit Eloquence,” and “Pulpit Eloquence of the 
Nineteenth Century,” compiled by Rev. H. C. Fish. 

The analysis and criticism of sermons after the manner illus¬ 
trated in “ Blair’s Lectures on Rhetoric,” is an exercise of great 
value to ministers and homiletical students. 

Believing that the occasional and even frequent perusal of the 
best sermons of great and good preachers will exert a happy in¬ 
fluence on the ministry of any one capable of being aroused to 
noble exertions by the words and example of others, the author 
at first contemplated the insertion of a select list of sermons 
worthy of the attention of young ministers. Reflecting, how¬ 
ever, that any such list must necessarily omit more sermons and 
authors of merit than it can possibly notice, and also that new 
examples are continually arising, he has resolved to limit him¬ 
self to the suggestion of a few principles which should govern a 
minister in the perusal of sermons. 

1. Read sermons of historic interest; for example, those of the 
principal fathers, reformers, and pulpit orators of all countries. 

2. Read sermons of didactic value; for example, Wesley’s, 
Dwight’s, Edmondson’s, Thomas Jackson’s. 

3. Read sermons pronounced by good critics to be models of 
style; for example, Watson’s, Alexander’s, Harris’s, Hamilton’s, etc. 

4. Read the sermons of men who have been greatly blessed of 
God in a ministry of success and power; for example, Whitefield’s, 
Fletcher’s, Payson’s, Summerfield’s, etc. 

5. Read not only sermons produced in the past, but at the 
present time; for example, Spurgeon’s, Punshon’s, Simpson’s, 
Beecher’s, and Guthrie’s. 


456 


AUTHORS IN ENGLISH. 


6. Read chiefly those sermons from which, on experiment, 
you find you derive the greatest profit in respect to your devo¬ 
tional feelings and your pulpit services. 

IV. OLEEIOAL BIOGRAPHY. 

No biography of a Christian minister is complete without a 
sketch of his mode of preaching the Gospel, and a portraiture 
of the means which he found most successful in winning souls to 
Christ and moving men to the discharge of duty. 

Many biographers have overlooked this important matter; 
while many ministers—few, however, that are worthy of bio¬ 
graphical publicity—seem to have adopted such a mechanical 
routine in the discharge of their pulpit duties as during a whole 
life to have accumulated no materials of value in reference to a 
work which ought to arouse the enthusiasm of all who engage 
in it, and to which every one ought to contribute something, 
either of precept or example. 

Ministerial biography illustrates the wonderful variety of tal¬ 
ents which God employs in the propagation of his truth, and 
delineates those traits of character and habits of life which tend 
to the largest usefulness. 

Following the above general remarks, it will he sufficient to 
indicate a few works of this class which are specially valuable 
for the hints and instructions they contain on the subject of 
preaching: 

Life and Remains of Richard Cecil. 

Autobiography of William Jay. 

Sketches of the early Methodist preachers contained in Ste¬ 
vens’s History of Methodism. 

Annals of the American Pulpit, by W. B. Sprague, D.D. 

Lives of A. Alexander and J. W. Alexander, M’Cheyne, Bunt¬ 
ing, Newton, and others. 

v. ARTICLES IN REVIEWS AND PERIODICALS. 

Within the last twenty-five years, numerous articles bearing 
upon the subject of preaching, some of them of great value, have 
appeared in the religious quarterlies of England and America. 
Occasionally, even in secular periodicals, pulpit eloquence has 
been well treated. But especially within the last ten or twelve 
years these topics have been discussed by the leading periodicals 
of most Christian Churches as of constant importance and of 


AUTHOKS IN FRENCH. 


457 


inexhaustible interest. Articles that have thus appeared origin¬ 
ally have in some instances been subsequently made up into 
books. Others have been of a very discursive character. While 
many crude notions and superficial views have been put forth 
through the agency under notice, yet the influence of periodical 
articles, as a whole, has been favorable to the diflfusion of cor¬ 
rect popular views in reference to preaching; and it is to be 
hoped that a similar result will continue to follow from the same 
source. 

Without an attempt to specify particular articles, reference is 
made to the Bibliotheca Sacra, the New Englander, the Method¬ 
ist Quarterly, the Princeton Review, and the American Theo¬ 
logical Review, etc.; also, to the North British Review, the 
London Review, and the British Quarterly Review. 

FRENCH. 

The homiletical literature of the French language is less volu¬ 
minous than valuable. It has been produced in nearly equal 
proportions by Protestant and Catholic writers. The principal 
works have been translated into English, and widely circulated 
both in England and America. 

In addition to the treatises enumerated below, reference may 
he made to the Critical Works of Rapin, 1670, and the Belles- 
Lettres of Rollin, 1730, for excellent remarks on pulpit eloquence. 

1688. Claude, John. '’•Essay on the Composition of a Ser- 
mon^ 

Claude was a cotemporary of Bossuet, Massillon, and Bourda- 
loue. He was an able Protestant minister, and a faithful defender 
of the Reformation. As such he was persecuted in the different 
fields of labor which he occupied, and ultimately driven from the 
kingdom by the persecutions following the revocation of the 
Edict of Nantes. In 1654, while pastor at Nismes, in the south 
of France, he instructed a class of candidates for the ministry. 
Probably at that time he collected and arranged the materials 
for this essay, which, however, was not written in full till a 
subsequent period of his life, when his own son was about to be 
ordained to the ministry. It remained in manuscript till after 
the author’s death, and was published as the first of his posthu¬ 
mous works in 1688. 

It was first translated into English in 1778, by Robert Robert¬ 
son, a Baptist minister of Cambridge, and subsequently edited 


458 


AUTHORS IN FRENCH. 


by Charles Simeon. Simeon’s edition has been republished in 
America in several different forms, but has had its greatest cur¬ 
rency as a prescribed text-book for junior preachers of the Meth¬ 
odist Episcopal Church. 

1700. Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambray. Dialogues on 
Eloquence, and particularly that of the pul])it.” 

The Dialogues of Fenelon were translated into English in 1722, 
and have since been reproduced in various English and American 
editions. They are now most conveniently accessible in a vol¬ 
ume entitled “Preacher and Pastor,” published by M. W. Dodd, 
New York. 

This work may be pronounced as much a classic as Cicero’s 
dialogues on oratory, by which its plan was evidently suggested. 
No authority is higher than that of Fenelon on questions of taste, 
while his evident candor and unaffected piety have caused him 
to be equally admired throughout the Protestant and Catholic 
worlds. 

1715. Gisbeet, F. “ Christian Eloquence, in theory and 
practice.” 

The merit of this book is not easily overrated. It possesses 
the classic elegance of Fenelon’s Dialogues, with a greater direct¬ 
ness and didactic power. It was translated into English in 1718, 
by Sam. D’Oyley, who, having emblazoned his own name on the 
title-page, had the meanness to conceal that of the author by not 
once mentioning it in the volume. 

In 1809, William Bramwell, a revivalist of celebrity among 
the English Wesleyans, republished this work, with the omis¬ 
sion of two chapters, under the title of “The Salvation 
Preacher.” 

1747. OsTEEVALD, J. F. Lectures ou EreachingP 

Ostervald was a learned and pious pastor of the Reformed 
Church at Neufchatel, in Switzerland, where, as professor of 
divinity, he taught candidates for the ministry. His work on 
the exercise of the sacred ministry consists of his reported lec¬ 
tures, said to have been published without his consent. 

The first half of it relates to preaching. The entire work was 
translated into English by T. Stevens, 1781. 

About 1820 the Rev. Joseph Sutcliffe published a new and 
improved translation of the Lectures on Preaching, of which an 
American edition has been printed by I. P. Cook, of Baltimore. 
It is well worthy of purchase and perusal. 


AUTHORS IN FRENCH. 


459 


1790. Reybaz. The Art of Preachingy 

A brief treatise, of no special value. An English translation 
has been published in connection with Massillon’s Charges. 

1793. Maury, Cardinal. '‘''The Principles of Eloquence; 
adapted to the pulpit and the bar.” 

Translated into English by John Neal Lake. An American 
edition is published at the Methodist Book Rooms. 

1819. Besplas, Abbot. '•'‘Essay on the eloquence of the 
pulpit.” 

Translated, with preface, by Miles Martindale. 

1840. ViNET, A. “ or, the theory of preaching.” 

Translated by Thomas H. Skinner, D.D. New York: 1853. 
A translation is also published in Clark’s Theological Library, 
Edinburgh. 

1845. Vetu, Abbot J. X. Les Vrais Principes sur la pre¬ 
dication ou maniere d’annoncer avec fuit la parole de Dieu.” * 
3 tomes. Paris. 

1852. Martin, Abbot C. “ Panorama des Predicateurs; ou, 
repertoire pour I’improvisation et la composition du sermon.” 
3 tomes, grand 4to. Paris. 

This work is a decided curiosity; and as it bears a special 
recommendation from his Holiness Pope Pius IX., and enthusi¬ 
astic compliments from most of the bishops of France, may be 
supposed to be in the height of fashion with modern French 
preachers of the Roman Catholic Church. 

It is more systematic than any of the English Pulpit Helps. 
It is arranged in conformity with the ecclesiastical calendar, and 
for each Sabbath and important holiday of the year presents 
three plans of sermons: first, in outline ; second, in development; 
third, illustrations and quotations from the Scriptures and the 
fathers, together with a list of authors to be consulted on the 
topics chosen. 

No book of its class contains finer extracts, or a more ingenious 
arrangement of matter. 

1858. ViNCENT, Alfred, Pasteur. “ Recherches Homiletiques; 
ou, quelques idees sur la predication, avec de nombreuses cita¬ 
tions a I’appui.” Paris: Grassart. 

This is a brochure of 92 pages, characterized in the highest 
degree by freshness and piquancy of thought. 

* Works named by their French titles are not known to have been 
translated into English. 


460 


AUTHOES IN GERMAN. 


1859. Bautain, M., Vicar-General and Professor at the Sor- 
bonne. “ The Art of Extempore Speahing ; hints for the pulpit, 
the senate, and the bar.” New York: Scribner. 

1860. OoQUEEEL, Athanase, un des Pasteurs de I’Eglise Ee- 
formde de Paris. “ Olsermtions Pratiques sur la predication.” 
Paris: Cherbuliez. 

The author, although regarded as rationalistic in his views, 
enjoys great celebrity as a preacher. He has embodied in this 
volume a truly fine collection of ripe thoughts and judicious 
suggestions, the result of more than forty years’ attentive obser¬ 
vation upon preachers and preaching. 

1861. Yinet, a. Eistoire de la predication de I’Eglise 
Eeform6e de France, pendant le sidcle dix-septieme.” Posthume. 

GERMAN. 

Introductory to a list of the principal German writers on 
Homiletics, the author is happy to insert the following condensed 
historical sketch of Preaching in Germany^ for which he is in¬ 
debted to Rev. Professor Warren, of Bremen: 

In the history of preaching in Protestant Germany, several periods, 
marked by the prevalence of peculiar styles, are clearly distinguishable. 

1. The period of Luther and the Reformation. The preaching of this 
period may be characterized as blunt, earnest, evangelical, and pow¬ 
erful. 

2. Period of the Homilists, sometimes called Postillists. This period 
commenced almost immediately after Luther’s death, and may be re¬ 
garded as extending to the rise of the Spener pietistic school. The most 
notable of these homilists were Corvinus, Brentz, Chemnitz, Osiander, 
Matthesius, and Dietrick. An extreme artificiality characterized the 
preaching of this period. A few, however, did not lose themselves in 
the puerilities and triteness of the prevalent scholastic method, but 
preached with unction and power; for example, Arnd,Herberger, John 
Valentine, Andreas, and others. The same style in the Catholic Church 
reached its culmination in Ulrich Megerle, imperial court preacher at 
Vienna. His name, moreover, is quite as proverbial for bad taste as for 
scholastic pedantry. 

3. The movement commenced by Spener and Francke "WTought a 
healthful reform in pulpit ministrations as far as it extended; but the 
almost cotemporaneous rise and spread of the Wolfian philosophy, in¬ 
troducing into all departments of thought a perfect mania for logical 
definitions and demonstrations, prevented the new religious movement 
from penetrating and influencing the schools. J. J. Rambach, d. 1735, 
and J. G. Eeinbeck, d. 1741, represent the transition from the so-called 
pietistic to the philosophic method. 


AUTHORS IN GERMAN. 


461 


4. A new era for German homiletics dates from Mosheim, d. 1755. 
From Mm, in fact, the Germans date Modern Homiletics. He is called 
the German Bourdaloue. His pattern was Tillotson. His scholars, 
however, inclined more and more to mere moralizing, and their dis¬ 
courses finally degenerated into lectures on agriculture, hygiene, etc. 
J. A. Kramer, the two Sachs, Spalding, ZollikoflTer, and others, repre¬ 
sent tMs period; also the more warmly and strictly evangelical G. C. 
Reiger, in Wirtemburg, and Willamosius, Herder’s ideal, in Prussia. 
The spirited Herder and Lavater are also to be mentioned in this con¬ 
nection. They, however, were original geniuses, who neither repre¬ 
sented nor founded any particular school. 

5. The sermons of F. V. Eeinhard, court preacher at Dresden, pub¬ 
lished in thirty-five volumes, 1793-1813, inaugurated another period. 
They are characterized by richness of thought, clearness and definiteness 
of expression, force and dignity of style; and were long regarded as 
models. His style and method were the prevailing ones, both among 
the rationalists and the orthodox, to the time of Schleiermacher. 

6. The revolution which dates from Schleiermacher’s appearance is as 
marked in the department of homiletics as in that of dogmatics. In his 
earlier sermons he inclines toward the moralizing style; but later he 
dwells more upon Christ and redemption, though of course after his 
fashion. His sermons fill nine volumes of his published works. 

The great preachers of the present day can scarcely be regarded as his 
scholars, or those of any one else. They are partly products and partly 
producers of the time. The most distinguished are, by a great majority, 
what are counted orthodox, and quite a large number truly evangelical. 
Most of them preach memoriter: none read. Claus Harm’s style is 
remarkable for blunt popularity; F. A. Krummacher’s for flowery but 
stirring diction; Nitzsch’s for Schleiermacherian profundity and ob¬ 
scureness. As a general criticism upon German preaching, it may be 
said to lack point. The preachers for the most part aim to instruct 
and influence the people, but not to secure fheir immediate conver¬ 
sion. Nevertheless, there is in this respect a gradual improvement 
going on. 

Sermon literature is very abundant in Germany, and constantly in¬ 
creasing. Most discourses are still planned on the old homily model. 

1736. Rambaoh. 

1752. Reinbeck and J. S. Baumgarten. 

1762. Meier 

1765. Mosheim. '■'■Anweisung Erbaulich zu Predigeny 

A work published ten years after the author’s death. 

1772. Spalding. 

1779. Steinbart. 

1795. Ammon. 

1797. SoHUDEROFF. 

1807. Schott. Theorie der BeredmmkeitP 


462 


AUTHORS IN GERMAN. 


For an English transfusion of the principal portions of this 
work, see Bibliotheca Sacra, 1845. 

1810. Reinhaed, F. V. Oestandnisse seine predigten nnd 
seine hildung zum prediger betreffend, in hriefen an einen 
freund.” 

This work, under the title of “Lettres de Eeinhard, etc.,” 
was translated into French by J. Monod, and published in Paris, 
1816. It was translated into English by O. A. Taylor, under the 
title of “Confessions of Reinhard,” and published in Boston, 
1832. The Confessions have recently been reprinted as an ad¬ 
dendum to “ Pulpit Themes,” published by Smith & English, 
Philadelphia. 

1811. Marheineke. “ Grundlegung der HomiletiicP 

1814. Theremin. “ Beredsamkeit eine Tugend^ 

This work has been well translated by Professor Shedd, late of 
Andover, with the title, “ Eloquence a Virtue; or, outlines of a 
systematic rhetoric.” Professor Shedd’s introductory essay is 
valuable. 

1830. Stier, R. Kurzer Grundriss einer 'bi'blishen KeryTc- 
tik ; Oder, anweisung durch das Wort Gottes sich zur predigt- 
kunst zu bilden.” 

This work is noted for the author’s proposition to substitute 
the term “ keryktik,” from/c7;pv^, for “homiletik;” also, as a 
spirited and earnest attempt to develop a method of preaching 
from the example of the Bible prophets and apostles. It is pre¬ 
eminent among German homiletical writings for its urgency of a 
stricter conformity to the Scriptures. 

1842. Palmer, C. “ Evangelische Homiletilcy 

This work has gone through several editions. The author is 
still living, and is highly esteemed among the Lutherans. 

1847. Fioker. GrundlinienderEvangelische Homiletik^ 

1848. Schweitzer. Homiletik.'''^ 

This author, although not regarded as a sound theologian, has 
the reputation of being the ablest living writer among “ the Re¬ 
formed.” His work is scientific, but cold. 

Homiletics, being regarded in Germany as a branch of Prac¬ 
tical Theology, has been treated at some length by vn-iters on 
that subject; for example, Moll, Ebrard, Nitzsch, Ehrenfeuchter. 

There have also appeared in German two valuable works on 
the history of preaching. 

1839-41. Paniel, C. F. W. PragmcLtiscJie GescTiichte der 


AUTHORS IN GERMAN. 463 

Christlichen Beredsamheit^ nnd der homiletik, von den ersten 
zeiten des Ohristhenthnms bis auf imsere zeit.” 

1839. Lentz, G. H. “ GescMcJite der Christlichen Homi- 
letihy 

This work is the most complete of the two, furnishing notices 
and brief specimens of popular preachers, of whom it enumerates 
some three hundred. 

Recently there has been translated into German, and published 
in Bremen, Adam Clarke’s “Letter to a Young Preacherwith 
an appendix, containing essays on the composition of sermons 
from the best English and German authors. 

PORTUGUESE, SPANISH, AND ITALIAN AUTHORS. 

In countries where the Reformation did not prevail preaching 
has received comparatively little attention, and the literature of 
homiletics is correspondingly meager. After considerable inquiry, 
it-has not been ascertained that any works worthy of enumera¬ 
tion have been published either in Portuguese or Spanish. In 
Italian the following authors may be named, with abridged titles 
of their works: 

1619. Panigla, Fbancesoo. The Preacher. 1 vol. Venice. 

1627. Aeesi, Paolo. The Art of Preaching. 2 vols. Milan. 

1669. Mansi, Giuseppe. The Preacher’’s Library. 5 vols. 
Rome. 

1725. Braschi, Gio. Battista. Idea of the mitred pulpit. 
1 vol. folio. Rome. 

1764. Da Faenza, M. R. P. Andrea. Letters to a young 
preacher. 1 vol. Vincenza. 

1770. Lastrioo, Rafaello. Institutes of Oratory explained 
to a young preacher. 1 vol. 4to. Vercelli. 

1824. Chilesotti, Valentino. of modern preaching. 

1 vol. Genoa. 

1850. Luxardo, Fedele. Treatise on sacred eloquence. 
1 vol. Genoa. 

1852. Ottaviano, R. P. da Savona. Lessons in sacred 
eloquence. 3 vols. Genoa. 

1853. Rebuffo, Paolo. Letters on sacred eloquence. 1 vol. 
Genoa. 


464 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


o. 

SUMMARY 

OF THE VIEWS OF LEADING DIVINES, AUTHOES, AND 

CHUKCHES ON THE MODES OF PREACHING, WITH REF¬ 
ERENCE TO DELIVERY. 

1692. BISHOP BURHET. 

As Bishop Burnet was the first historian to record the origin 
of the practice of reading sermons, he can he safely quoted as 
giving the best views of the subject in his day. 

In his work on the Pastoral Care he says: 

Reading is peculiar to this nation, and is endured in no other. It 
has, indeed, made that our sermons are more exact, and so it has pro¬ 
duced to us many volumes of the best that are extant; but after all, 
though some few read so happily, pronounce so truly, and enter so 
entirely into those affections which they recommend, that in them we 
see both the correctness of reading and the seriousness of speaking ser¬ 
mons, yet every one is not so happy. Some, by hanging their heads 
perpetually over their notes, by blundering as they read, and by a cursory 
running over them, do so lessen the matter of their sermons, that as 
they are generally read with very little life or affection, so they are heard 
with as little regard or esteem. Those who read ought certainly to be 
at a little more pains than for most part they are to read true, to pro¬ 
nounce with an emphasis, and to raise their heads and direct their eyes 
to their hearers; and if they practiced more alone the just way of read¬ 
ing, they might deliver their sermons with much more advantage. Man 
is a low sort of creature ; he does not, nay, nor the greater part cannot, 
consider things in themselves, without those little seasonings that must 
recommend them to their affections. That a discourse be heard with 
any life, it must be spoken with some ; and the looks and motions of 
the eye do carry in them such additions to what is said, that where these 
do not all concur, it has not all the force upon them that otherwise it 
might have. Besides that, the people, who are too apt to censure the 
clergy, are easily carried into an obvious reflection on reading, that it is 
an effect of laziness. 

In pronouncing sermons, there are two ways. The one is when a 
whole discourse is got by heart, and delivered word for word as it was 
writ down. Thi?" is so vast a labor that it is scarce possible that a man 
can be able to hold up long to it. Yet there is an advantage even in this 
to beginners: it fills their memories with good thoughts and regular 
meditations; and when they have got some of the most important of 
their sermons by heart in so exact a manner, they are thereby furnished 
with topics for discourse. 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


465 


But now I come to propose another method of preaching, by which a 
priest may be prepared, after a right view of his matter, a true under¬ 
standing his text, and a digesting of his thoughts upon it into their 
natural and proper.order, to deliver these both more easily to himself, 
and with a better effect both upon himself and his hearers. To come at 
this, he must be for some years at a great deal of pains to prepare him¬ 
self to it; yet when that is over, the labor of all the rest of his life, as to 
those performances, will become very easy and very pleasant to him. 
The preparations to this must be these. First, he must read the Scrip¬ 
tures very exactly; he must have great portions of them by heart; and 
he must also, in reading them, make a short concordance of them in his 
memory; that is, he must lay together such passages as belong to the 
same matter; to consider how far they agree, or help to illustrate one 
another, and how the same thing is differently expressed in them; and 
what various ideas or ways of recommending a thing rise out of this 
concordance. Upon this a man must exercise himself much, draw notes 
of it, and digest it well in his thoughts. Then he must be ready with 
the whole body of divinity in his head; he must know what parts come 
in as objections to be answered, where difficulties lie, how one part co¬ 
heres with another and gives it light. He must have this very current 
in his memory, that he may have things lie before him in one full view, 
and upon this he is also to work, by making tables, or using such other 
helps as may lay matters clearly before him. 

These are the materials that must be laid together; the practice in 
using them comes next. He, then, that would prepare himself to be a 
preacher in this method, must accustom himself to talk freely to himself, 
to let his thoughts flow from him, especially when he feels an edge and 
heat upon his mind; for then happy expressions will come in his mouth, 
things will ventilate and open themselves to him, as he talks them thus 
in a soliloquy to himself. He must also be writing many essays upon 
all sorts of subjects, for by writing he will bring himself to a correctness 
both in thinking and in speaking; and thus, by a hard practice for two 
or three years, a man may render himself such a master in this matter 
that he can never be surprised, nor will new thoughts ever dry up upon 
him. He must talk over to himself the whole body of divinity, and 
accustom himself to explain and prove, to clear objections, and to apply 
every part of it to some practical use. He must go through human life 
in all the ranks and degrees of it, and talk over all the duties of these ; 
consider the advantages or disadvantages in every one of them, their 
relation to one another, the morality of actions, the common virtues and 
vices of mankind, more particularly the duties of Christians, their obli¬ 
gation to meekness and humility, to forgive injuries, to relieve the poor, 
to bear the cross, to be patient and contented in every state of life, to 
pray much and fervently, to rejoice ever in God and to be always prais¬ 
ing him, and most particularly to be applying seriously to God, through 
Jesus Christ, for mercy and pardon and for his grace and Spirit; to be 
worshiping him devoutly in public, and to be delighting frequently to 
commemorate the death of Christ and to partake of the benefits of it. 

30 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


4(^6 

All these, I say, he must talk over and over again to himself; he must 
study to give his thoughts all the heat and flight about them that he 
can; and if, in these his meditations, happy thoughts and noble and 
tender expressions do at any time offer themselves, he must not lose 
them, but write them down. And in his pronouncing over such dis¬ 
courses to himself, he must observe what words sound harsh and agree 
ill together; for there is a music in speaking as well as in singing, which 
a man, though not otherwise critical in sounds, will soon discover. By 
a very few years’ practice of two or three such soliloquies a day, chiefly 
in the morning, when the head is clearest and the spirits are liveliest, a 
man will contract a great easiness both in thinking and speaking. 

But the rule I have reserved last is the most necessary of all, and 
without it all the rest will never do the business. It is this: that a man 
must have in himself a deep sense of the truth and power of religion : 
he must have a life and flame in his thoughts with relation to those 
subjects; he must have felt in himself those things which he intends to 
explain and recommend to others. He must observe narrowly the mo¬ 
tions of his own mind, the good and bad effects that the several sorts of 
objects he has before him, and affections he feels within him, have upon 
him, that so he may have a lively heat in himself when he speaks of 
them, and that he may speak in so sensible a manner that it may be al¬ 
most felt that he speaks from his heart. There is an authority in the 
simplest things that can be said when they carry visible characters of 
genuineness in them. Now, if a man can carry on this method, and by 
much meditation and prayer draw down divine influences, which are 
always to be expected when a man puts himself in the way of them and 
prepares himself for them, he will often feel that “while he is musing 
a fire is kindled within him,” and then he Avill “ speak with authority” 
and without constraint; his thoughts will be true, and his expressions 
free and easy. Sometimes this fire will carry him, us it were, out of 
himself, and yet without anything that is frantic or enthusiastical. Dis¬ 
courses brought forth with a lively spirit and heat, where a composed 
gesture, and the proper motions of the eye and countenance, and the 
due modulations of the voice concur, will have all the effect that can be 
expected from anything that is below immediate inspiration; and as this 
will be of use to the hearers, so it will be of vast use to the preacher 
himself, to oblige him to keep his heart always in good tune and temper, 
not to suffer irregular and forbidden appetites, passions, or projects to 
prepossess his mind: these will both divert him from going on in the 
course of meditation in which a man must continue many years till all 
his thoughts are put in order, polished, and fixed; they will make him 
likewise speak much against the grain, with an aversion that will be 
very sensible to himself, if not to his hearers, if he has guilt upon him, 
if his conscienee is reproaching him, and if any ill practices are putting 
a damp upon that good sense of things that makes his thoughts sparkle 
upon other occasions, and gives him an air and authority, a tone of assur¬ 
ance, and a freedom of expression. 

Such a method as I have been opening has had great success with all 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


467 


those that I have known to have tried it. And though every one has 
not had that swiftness of imagination nor that clearness of expression 
that others may have, so that in this men may differ as much as they 
do in their written compositions, yet every man by this method may 
rise far above what he could ever have attained to any other way; it 
will make even exact compositions easier to him; and him much readier 
and freer at them. But great care must be used by him before he suffers 
himself to speak with the liberty here aimed at in public: he must try 
himself at smaller excursions from his fixed thoughts, especially in the 
applicatory part, where fiame and life are more necessary, and where a 
mistaken word or an unfinished period are less observed, and sooner 
forgiven, than in the explanatory part, where men ought to speak more 
serenely. And as one succeeds in some short excursions, he may give 
himself a further scope, and so, by a long practice, he will at last arrive 
at so great an easiness, both in thinking and speaking, that a very little 
meditation will be sure to lay open a text to him, with all the matter 
that belongs to it, together with the order in which it ought to be both 
explained and applied. And when a man has attained to a tolerable 
degree in this, he is then the master of his business; he is master also 
of much time, and of many noble thoughts and schemes that will arise 
out of them. 

This I shall prosecute no further; for if this opening of it does not 
excite the reader to follow it a little, no enlargements I can offer upon 
it will work upon him. 

To enable the reader to judge of the practical value of Bishop 
Burnet’s theory as exemplitied in his own character as a preacher, 
the following statement is inserted, from the London Quarterly, 
of 1857: 

Bishop Burnet was himself a conspicuous instance of the success of 
the style of speaking he recommended. Onslow, who was Speaker of 
the House of Commons for thirty-eight years, who had listened to the 
splendid declamation of Bolingbroke, to the terrible thunders of Pitt, 
and the silvery strains of Murray, could not, after an interval of forty 
years, recall the sermon which Burnet delivered on the “ new heavens 
and the new earth” without being sensibly moved by it. He describes 
with warmth the power of his imagination, the solemnity of his lan¬ 
guage, the earnestness of his heart, look, and voice; and asserts that 
he never heard a second preacher who equaled him. 

DR. ISAAC WATTS. 

Dr. Watts, who flourished among the English Independents 
at the same period with Bishop Burnet, stoutly objects to the 
reading of sermons. Says he: 

A paper, with the most pathetic lines written upon it, has neither 
fear, nor hope, nor compassion, nor zeal. It is conscious of no design, 


468 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


nor lias any solicitude about its success; and a mere reader, who coldly 
tells his people what his paper says, appears to be as void of all these 
necessary qualifications as his paper is. 

RICHARD BAXTER. 

Baxter, another coteraporary of Burnet, has left behind him a 
significant caution on the other hand: 

A quaker objected to him, “ You read your sermons out of a paper, 
therefore you have not the Spirit.” “ It is not want of your abilities,” 
he rejoins, “that makes ministers use notes ; but it is a regard to the 
work, and good of the hearers. I use notes as much as any man^ when I 
tahepains^ and as little as any man when lam lazy^ or busy, or have not 
time to prepare. It is easier for us to preach three sermons without 
notes, than one with them.” 

1703. JOHN EDWARDS, D.D. 

There are several that scandalously confine themselves to their papers, 
and read them but indifferently after all. A man would think that some 
of them are but then learning to read, or that they had never seen their 
notes before that time. This, indeed, is no other than the perverting of 
the nature of things, for the speaker should look oh those he directs 
his speech to; wherefore, the custom of those who never look off the 
book is unnatural and improper. Besides, if a sermon be wholly read, 
it loses a great deal of its virtue and efficacy, because hereby all laudable 
action is laid aside, and generally the most ungraceful and shameful 
postures are taken up, as hanging down their heads and lodging their 
chins in their breasts. Wherefore I advise my brethren to exercise their 
talent of memory, and those that are young especially to make use of it 
at their first undertaking the preacher’s ofl3.ce, that so it may become 
easy to them ever after. 

1731. SIR RICHARD BLACKMORE. 

It is fit to inquire whether it be more useful to read a written dis¬ 
course, or bespeak the audience without book. And there are many 
reasons that should determine us to favor and prefer the last. 

1756. PHILIP DODDRIDGE. 

/ 

Dr. Doddridge, in his lectures to Theological Students, says: 

To be able to preach without notes raises a man’s character. Accus¬ 
tom yourself to look much about upon your auditory. 

1758. JOnH LAWSOH, D.D. 

Lawson, a celebrated lecturer on oratory in Trinity College, 
Dublin, in 1758, pronounces the foreign method of reciting ser- 


MODE OF DELIVERY. ' 469 

mons the poorest; but as between read and extemporaneous de¬ 
livery he is unable to decide which is best. 

He sums up his discussion with the following sensible re¬ 
marks : 

As that extemporary discourse which approacheth most to a studied 
one in regularity of composition and purity of style is the best, in like 
manner, among studied discourses that undoubtedly excelleth which is 
composed with the easy air and pronounced with the unaffected warmth 
and fluency of the extemporary. 

He therefore recommends preachers “to join the exactness of 
elaborate composition with the spirit of extemporary elocution.” 

1766. THOMAS SEOKER, D.D. 

Archbishop Seeker, in a charge to his clergy, treats the subject 
under consideration in the following language: 

Defect in action is better than excess. And a great deal cannot well 
be used by those who read their sermons. 

This is one objection against reading them; and there are several be¬ 
sides. Persons who are short-sighted have peculiar reasons to avoid it. 
Indeed, almost all persons are accustomed from their early years to read 
in a different tone from that in which they speak at other times, and we 
seldom correct it thoroughly; or if we did, what we say in such manner 
as to make it seem the present dictate of our own hearts, will much 
better make its way into the hearts of others than if our eyes are fixed 
all the while on a paper from which we visibly recite the whole. It will 
ordinarily be uttered, too, with more disengaged freedom and livelier 
spirit. The preacher also will be able to enforce his words by signifi¬ 
cant looks, to perceive from the countenances of his hearers what they 
comprehend and by what they are moved; and may accordingly enlarge 
on that head, or proceed to another, as he finds cause. There is a mid¬ 
dle way, used by our predecessors, of setting down in short notes the 
method and principal heads, and enlarging on them in such words as 
present themselves at the time. Perhaps, duly managed, this would be 
the best. That which is, or lately was, common among foreign divines, 
of writing sermons first, then getting and repeating them by heart, not 
only is unreasonably laborious, but subjects persons to the hazard of 
stopping disagreeably, and even breaking off abruptly, for want of 
memory. Or if they escape that danger, there still remains another, of 
saying their lesson with ungraceful marks of fear and caution. 

' 1772. THOMAS GIBBONS. 

Should you, my friend, th’ important question ask, 

“With or without my papers shall I preach?” 

My answer hear and weigh. Your sermons write 





470 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


From end to end, and every tLouglit invest 
With full expression, such as best may suit 
Its nature and its use, and then pronounce 
As much as your remembrance can retain 
Without your written aids. But if too weak 
Your memory proves, and, like a treacherous sieve, 

Should let th’ elaborate composition through, 

Rather read every Sentence, every word, 

Than wander in a desultory strain, 

A chaos, dark, irregular, and wild. 

Where the same thought and language oft revolve 
And re-revolve, to tire sagacious minds; 

However loud the momentary praise 
Of ignorance, with empty fervors charmed. 

But never to your notes be so enslaved 
As to repress some instantaneous thought. 

That may, like lightning, dart upon the soul, 

And blaze in strength and majesty divine. 

1776. GEORGE CAMPBELL, D.D. 

George Campbell, of Aberdeen, in his lectures on Pulpit Elo¬ 
quence, discusses very fairly the comparative advantages of 
reading and repeating sermons; and in the end gives his appar¬ 
ent preference to reading, as adapted to secure success for a 
greater number of preachers. 

Intermediately, he concedes the superiority of speaking as 
compared with either reading or repeating, and claims for it the 
highest excellence of parliamentary and judicial oratory, including 
the best orations of Cicero and Demosthenes. 

1798. JOHN SMITH, D.D. 

In his lectures before one of the synods of Scotland, this author 
uttered the following strong language : 

The practice of reading sermons, which is not of a long standing in 
this country and which is not yet tolerated in any other, is extremely 
hurtful to the interests of religion; for no sermon can have the same 
energy or effect when read as it has when spoken or repeated. It may 
be more correct in point of composition, but this advantage is obtained 
at the expense of animation, and therefore at the expense of usefulness. 
For the plainest speaker, with animation, affects us more than the 
greatest orator could do by reading, which hardly admits of any ani¬ 
mation. 

Reading, too, hinders us from observing the countenances of our hear¬ 
ers, which would be no less animating to us than ours to them. It 
hinders ns from observing whether they attend to us, whether they 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


471 


understand us, or whether they are moved, and, consequently, from 
accommodating ourselves always to their circumstances. In short, it is 
altogether incompatible with true oratory and action, and so much alters 
the nature of a sermon from what it would be, if repeated, that it can 
never have the same effect upon an audience. 

Hence the bar, the senate, and popular assemblies on every other oc¬ 
casion, disallow so much of reading that in none of them has it ever yet 
been practiced or indulged; so that its being introduced into the pulpit 
only, and continued there, will be found, I fear, to reflect little honor 
on our predecessors or ourselves. It seems to argue a want of care, 
earnestness, and sincerity; for who, in advising a friend very earnestly, 
would think of writing his advice, or taking with him notes out of which 
he should read his counsel? 

Indeed, the practice of reading has in it something that looks so like 
indolence and indifference, that it is, in appearance at least, ill suited to 
that boldness and zeal which men should expect in a messenger come 
from God. A man who speaks in the name of Christ, as his embassador 
and representative in the world, might be expected to speak with such a 
dignity and freedom as would manifest his own inward concern, as well 
as the awful and inflnite consequences of his message. It might be ex¬ 
pected that he should speak from the fullness of his heart, and that with 
all possible earnestness of spirit he would rouse and excite his people 
to prepare for death, judgment, and eternity, and to look without delay 
for the glorious appearing of the Son of God. But if, instead of this, ho 
bows motionless over a paper, and only through that medium speaks to 
his hearers, we are tempted to suspect, if not a want of capacity, at least 
a want of concern ; for every considerate person will judge according to 
the appearance before his eyes, and not according to the prevalency of 
custom, and will, therefore, reckon this as an instance of indolence and 
awkwardness which has no parallel in the affairs of men. 

The minds of the hearers, too, from a principle of assimilation, are 
apt, on such occasions, to be seized with a languor of spirits somewhat 
analogous to the minister’s indolence ; and though we must in charity 
believe that the spirits of both are more seriously engaged than their 
outward frame would indicate, yet the practice has naturally a manifest 
tendency to introduce a cold and lifeless face on the awful concerns of 
our immortal part, and ought therefore, as much as lieth in us, to be 
always avoided. 

The preacher who, cold and inanimate as a statue, slavishly reads his 
sermons, however well penned, will always And those sermons attended 
with very moderate success. He may be compared to those worms 
which seem to glow and give some light in the dark, but have no 
warmth. He may convey some knowledge to the understanding, but 
no emotion at all to the heart. 

Having given the foregoing extracts from authors of the seven¬ 
teenth and EIGHTEENTH centuries, it is not necessary to glean 
extensively from the earlier authors of the nineteenth. 


472 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


As the preceding quotations represent the oldest expressions 
on record with reference to the reading of sermons, so the fol¬ 
lowing are selected as containing the most recent. For con¬ 
venience they will be classified according to the denomination 
represented, without regard to particular dates. As an intro¬ 
duction to tlie testimony of the Churches which will follow, two 
extracts touching the philosophy of the subject are inserted from 
two distinguished literary men of the present century. The 
first was a clergyman of the Church of England; the second is 
an American statesman, and one of the most celebrated of living 
orators. 

Pulpit discourses have insensibly dwindled from speaking to reading; 
a practice which of itself is sufficient to stifle every germ of eloquence. 
It is only by the fresh feelings of the heart that mankind can be very 
powerfully affected. What can be more ludicrous than an orator deliv¬ 
ering stale indignation, and fervor of a week old; turning over whole 
pages of violent passions, written out in goodly text; reading the tropes 
and apostrophes into which he is hurried by the ardor of his mind ; and 
so affected at a preconcerted line and page that he is unable to proceed 
any further? Sidney Smith. 

It is not indeed to be supposed that an orator like Mr. Webster is 
slavishly tied down, on any occasion, to his manuscript notes, or to a 
memoriter repetition of their contents. It may be presumed that in many 
cases the noblest and the boldest flights, the last and warmest tints 
thrown upon the canvas, in discourses of this kind, were the unpremed¬ 
itated inspiration of the moment of delivery. The opposite view would 
be absurd, because it would imply that the mind, under the high ex¬ 
citement of delivery, was less fertile and creative than in the repose of 
the closet. A speaker could not, if he attempted it, anticipate in his 
study the earnestness and fervor of spirit induced by actual contact with 
the audience; he could not by any possibility forestall the sympathetic 
influence upon his imagination and intellect of the listening and applaud¬ 
ing throng. However severe the method required by the nature of the 
occasion, or dictated by his own taste, a speaker like Mr. Webster will 
not often confine himself to pouring out “ fervors a week old.” 

The orator who would do justice to a great theme or a great occasion 
must thoroughly study and understand the subject; he must accurately, 
and if possible minutely, digest in writing beforehand the substance 
and even the form of his address ; otherwise, though he may speak 
ably, he will be apt not to make in all respects an able speech. He 
must entirely possess himself beforehand of the main things which 
he wishes to say, and then throw himself upon the excitement of the 
moment and the sympathy of the audience. In those portions of his 
discourse which are didactic or narrative, he will not be likely to wan¬ 
der in any direction far from his notes; although even in those portions 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


473 


new facts, illustrations, and suggestions will be apt to spring up before 
him as he proceeds. But when the topic rises; when the mind kindles 
from within, and the strain becomes loftier, or bolder, or more pathetic; 
when the sacred fountain of tears is ready to overflow, and audience and 
speaker are moved by one kindred sympathetic passion; then the 
thick-coming fancies cannot be kept down, the storehouse of the memory 
is unlocked, images start up from the slumber of years, and all that the 
orator has seen, read, heard, or felt, returns in distinct shape and vivid 
colors. The cold and premeditated text will no longer suffice for the 
glowing thought. The stately, balanced phrase gives place to some 
abrupt, graphic expression, that rushes unbidden to his lips. The un¬ 
foreseen incident or locality furnishes an apt and speaking image ; and 
the discourse instinctively transposes itself into a higher key. 

^ —Edward Everett. 

THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 

There is great uniformity in the manner in which all the recent 
writers of the Church of England have treated this subject. 
Bridges, Gresley, Oxenden, Christmas, and Moore, all speak in 
the most commendatory terras of extemporaneous delivery, and 
give hints to enable preachers to acquire the capacity for it. At 
the same time they enjoin the diligent use of the pen, but repu¬ 
diate the servile reading of manuscripts. 

The following extracts from Moore are inserted as not only 
the most recent, but perhaps the best plea for the practice of 
both styles of delivery yet published : 

The question, “ In what sections of the professing Church does the 
practice of reading sermons prevail?” may be answered easily. Bishop 
Burnet gave the answer to it up to his own time; and his dictum will 
not be far wrong if allowed to be extended to our own. “ Beading,” he 
says, “is peculiar to this nation, and is endured in no other.” And wo 
see the proof of this in all countries and in all churches. In France, wo 
never hear of such a practice. Even among Irish Protestants it is al¬ 
most entirely laid aside. In Scotland, it is abjured with an almost su¬ 
perstitious dread. The Wesleyans wmuld relegate to the shop-board or 
the plow, a candidate for the ministry who could not do without his 
notes; while, by other Dissenters, the reading of a sermon is only tol¬ 
erated as an infirmity which they hope the preacher will be able to 
overcome, and which, until he does, he must use all lawful artifice to 
conceal. 

Still less of countenance to this habit of reading from a manuscript 
can be found in other forms of popular address, of which the aim, like 
that of the preacher, is to gain the practical assent of the hearer. What 
pleader at the bar would think of addressing a jury from a written 
speech? How impatient is the House of Commons of eloquence, of 


474 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


•which even a few notes only are fastened in the lining of the memher’s 
hat ? And how soon would our great religious meetings dwindle down 
to a scattered remnant, if every speaker, as he was called upon, began 
to spread out a paper written within and without, like the prophet’s 
roll? instances these, all tending to bear out that observation of Sir 
Walter Scott, “It is conclusive against the frigid custom of reading 
sermons, that in any other mode of public speaking it would be held 
childish and absurd.” 

Thus, Gospel authority, primitive usage, the custom of the Catholic 
Church everywhere, and the conclusion from what is found to be ef¬ 
fective in public speaking of every other kind, are all against the 
written sermon. What considerations can be urged, in arrest of the 
sentence that it be proscribed from our pulpits forthwith, and a pat¬ 
ent of exclusive preference be made out for the extemporaneous dis¬ 
course ? 

We think there are several reasons against such absolute limitation to 
one kind of homiletical address. 

First, we have a large class of sermons in our Church addressed to 
auditories who are accustomed to habits of close thought; who are con¬ 
versant already, it may be presumed, with the first elements of moral 
and religious truth; and for whom, therefore, the logical exactness and 
higher range of the written sermon would seem to be more suitable than 
anything which the average standard of extemporaneous ability would 
be likely to furnish. 

Again, we should protest against this banishment from the pulpit of 
all written sermons, in the name of our theological, or rather our relig¬ 
ious literature. 

Neither are we prepared to surrender even the stated use of the man¬ 
uscript as in some cases a suitable vehicle of instruction for our more 
educated and intellectual congregations. 

In our day the question is. Why, if both methods have their partisans, 
every preacher should not cultivate both ? No inherent and insuperable 
unfitness for pulpit purposes can be shown to belong either to one style 
or to the other. Practical instances could be cited in abundance showing 
that it is not necessary for a man to be tautologous and vapid because 
he speaks from short notes; nor, on the other hand, because he has 
a manuscript before him, that he should be mechanical and lifeless 
and dull; while, if apparent results for good were to infiuence the 
decision to be formed, it is certain that either style could number 
among its supporters some of the most honored names in the Church 
of God. 

In town congregations, more particularly, it might be found profitable 
if one of the two styles of address were adopted at the earlier service, 
while at the later service recourse were had to the other. Many con¬ 
siderations seem to favor this plan. Thus, the two styles would be 
found to benefit and assist each other; the habit of constant writing giv¬ 
ing precision and clearness to the spoken sermon, and the unconsciously 
acquired animation of extemporaneous utterance extending itself nat- 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


476 


nrally to the written discourse. Again, the practice recommended 
would enable us to provide better for the varying tastes and capacities 
of our people. 

Neither does it appear altogether unworthy of notice among the ad¬ 
vantages to a preacher to cultivate both the manuscript and the spoken 
styles, that such a practice will tend to diversify the character of his 
preaching; will help to take off something from that inevitable same¬ 
ness and repeating of himself which a man, preaching twice or thrice a 
week in the same style, to the same people, and that for many years 
together, is sure himself to feel conscious of, and to fear his people will 
be conscious of too. Now, we are persuaded that a man may greatly 
break this feared monotony in his preaching by adopting, as a rule, the 
written method at one part of the'day, and the extemporaneous at the 
other. 

From all that has been advanced, it will be inferred that what we re¬ 
gard as the besetting sin of the extemporaneous preacher is the neglect 
of needful preparation ; the getting into a habit of mere word-stringing; 
the not being furnished with a store of well-defined and solid thoughts, 
and therefore being obliged to have recourse to the most feeble and 
wire-drawn generalities to fill up the time. In saying this, we are far 
from meaning that all the meagemess and superficialness are on his side. 
On the contrary, we know that there may be twaddle written^ as well as 
twaddle spolcen ; and that a sermon demanding many hours for the mere 
manual writing may, after all, contain nothing but stones of emptiness, 
sounding brass, and bones that are very dry. But still, the temptation 
to provide only barren pastures lies more with the extempore preacher, 
lie is liable to fall in, more easily than the writer of sermons, with 
the suggestions of an indolent spirit. If he have but the trick of 
fluent declamation, the power of concealing any poverty of thought 
by means of a thick mist of words, and worst of all, that dreadful 
habit, which some are said to have, of appearing most animated and 
earnest when most conscious that they have nothing to say, we have 
no security but in his own conscience that we may not, at any time, be 
called upon to sit down to an empty board. And we cannot con¬ 
template this danger without solemn sadness; without warning those 
who may have fatal facilities this way, whither Satan and their fluent 
gifts may lead them. They may tell us that, in their most indolent or 
indisposed moods, they are always careful to redeem time for prayer. 
And we may not doubt this. But the marvel to us is that, having found 
time for prayer, they did not learn, ly prayer, the mockery of not finding 
time for something else. “ This ought ye to have done, and not to leave 
the other undone.” 

Wherefore, let our last protest on this subject be against hasty prep¬ 
aration. The cheaply produced sermon, whether spoken or written, is 
always the same: a calamity, a wrong, an offense both to earth and 
heaven. 


476 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


THE INDEPENDENTS OF ENGLAND. 

Among these, the example of Pev. William Jay, of Bath, is 
probably a representative one. 

The ex, re nata of extemporary speaking will always he more effective 
than what is read from composed documents or doled forth from recol¬ 
lection. Animation is desirable, and with ordinary minds no other 
quality will fully supply the want of it; but then it must appear to be 
the result of feeling. Whenever this is really the case, the animation 
will glow and rise with the subject. What is continuous and invariable 
must be mechanical and assumed. This is a sad secret, let out by the 
constant bawlers or strainers. How can the fire precede the friction ? 
How can the picture be all light without shade ? . . . 

I seldom ever wrote a sermon at full length, but only a draff or sketch, 
more or less full according to its requirements, leaving the subordinate 
fillings up, after meditation and prayer, to the impressiveness and ex¬ 
citations of the audience, and the assistance authorized to be hoped for 
where means have been duly used. Even these notes I never took with 
me into the pulpit till within the past year, and I am sorry I ever took* 
them. The memory, like a friend, loves to be trusted, and seldom fails 
to reward the confidence reposed in Autobiography. 

Robeet Vaughan, D. D., in his hook entitled “The Modern 
Pulpit,” says: 

We contemplate preaching to consist, not in reading sermons, but iu 
such extemporaneous delivery as obtains at the bar and in the senate. 
We account it, on the whole, one of the greatest mischiefs that have be¬ 
fallen the Church and the cause of religion generally, that any other 
mode of communicating instruction than obtains in those connections 
should have become prevalent in the pulpit. 

We are not ignorant with regard to the objections usually made to 
extemporaneous preaching. But these objections consist almost entirely 
of arguments derived from a misconception of the practice intended, or 
from its abuses only. It does not follow, because the language of a ^s- 
course is extemporaneous, that the substance is unpremeditated. 

We advocate extemporaneous preaching, not as demanding less labor 
or less talent than the opposite practice, but as being more natural, more 
impressive, more adapted to the ends of preaching; and as involving, 
when entered upon with the due amount of preparation, the most whole¬ 
some exercise, both of the mental and moral faculties. We no more 
mean that the extemporaneous preacher should be a mere rhapsodist 
than we mean that such should be the character of pleading at the bar, 
or the character of oratory in the senate. 

Official Advice.— The following authoritative precepts relat¬ 
ing to the subject are found in “A Guide to the Christian Min- 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


477 


istry, by the Rev. Thomas Wallace,” published as a prize essay 
bv the Congregational Union of England and Wales in 1849. 

Do not Read your Sermons. 

This is a habit formed by many, and especially by many young min¬ 
isters at the present period ; but we would by no means recommend it. 
If adopted, we consider that you would regret its adoption, and find it 
detrimental to the power and effect of your ministry. We are aware 
that by reading your discourses after their careful composition, greater 
precision and finish of style may be discovered; still, how much is sac¬ 
rificed, how much is lost! The vivacity of the pulpit is to a great extent 
impaired. The life, the animation, the spontaneous and buoyant energy 
of preaching, which render it so interesting and attractive, and give to it 
so much power, are in a great degree taken away. A stiff, formal, and 
mechanical manner is also acquired, which those who invariably read 
their sermons find it difficult, indeed almost impossible, to shake off. 

Besides, we have invariably observed, especially among dissenting 
congregations accustomed to a free delivery in the pulpit and the unre¬ 
stricted preaching of the Gospel, that sermons, however excellent and 
'able in themselves, when read are listened to by the majority with com¬ 
parative inattention, and fall on the ears of numbers who remain listless 
and apathetic. 

It must be remembered, too, that we have few good readers. It is rare 
to hear a discourse read from the pulpit well; with freedom, animation, 
and effect; in that natural and vivacious manner which is calculated to 
produce a pleasing and a general impression. - 

Commence your ministry, then, by avoiding the practice of reading 
your sermons. Never read a discourse, except on some occasion of 
special significance., and even then avoid it if you possibly can. Sure we 
are that it will be connected with the freedom, acceptance, and efficiency 
of your ministry more than you are aware. The most enlightened judges, 
the most devout in our congregations, coincide in the observation, that 
one of the great charms of the Nonconformist pulpit is, that discourses 
are preached., not read ; that the minister does not confine himself to his 
manuscript, but that he preaches the word of God, delivers the message 
of heaven to the people with persuasiveness and animation, presents the 
truth before them in an easy, unembarrassed, unfettered manner. 

We have no objection, confessedly, to the employment of notes in the 
pulpit; it may be, copious. Some find it difficult to preach connectedly 
and comfortably without their use. Still, if employed, as has been beau¬ 
tifully remarked, “ they should be like a quiver, on which a minister 
casts his eye now and then to perceive what arrow is to be fetched from 
thence, and shot in earnest.” 

Young ministers should endeavor to preach without notes ; they often 
trammel and embarrass. “ I once used notes,” observed a distinguished 
preacher, “ but found my memory., upon trial., served me best. The sub¬ 
ject is laid nearer my heart; I think I feel more dependence on the 


478 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


Spirit; my own soul enjoys more; I am more unconfiued; and any 
part of the subject more readily occurs to me another time^ when I need 
it. It requires a little more pains to fix it in the memory; but amply, 
very amply, does it repay for diligence,” 

Our recommendation is in unison with the above remark, conceiving 
it to be sound and important. Get the leading thoughts of your dis¬ 
courses, the general outline, the prominent illustrations, well imprinted 
on the memory, “infixed in the mindenter the pulpit after long and 
deep refiection, under the influence of a devout and holy frame of mind, 
committing yourselves to the great work to which you are devoted, of 
unfolding the Gospel and beseeching men to be reconciled with God, 
and you will find that the Lord Jesus will assist you; that he will be 
better to you than all your anxieties and fears. Thought will succeed 
thought, illustration will follow illustration, there will be no deficiency 
of suitable and expressive phraseology, and you will give the appropri¬ 
ate intonations to your words and sentences, regulated by the natural 
and fervid feeling you are cherishing; and thus, we are persuaded, your 
ministrations will be rendered far more effective than they would be 
were your sermons uniformly read. 

ENGLISH BAPTISTS. 

No work on preaching is known to have appeared recently 
from this source. The precepts and practice of Robert Hall 
were strongly in favor of extemporaneous delivery. So are those 
of Spurgeon and other great preachers of that denomination at 
the present day. 


ENGLISH WESLEYANS. 

It is to be regretted that no work has appeared illustrating 
and vindicating the theory of preaching which has prevailed 
among the Wesleyans of England from the days of Mr. Wesley 
to the present time. 

In the absence of such a work, we find Oubitt’s “ Dialogues,” 
prefacing a volume of sketches of sermons, and published in 
1856, recommending Claude’s Essay and Porter’s Homiletics as 
chosen guides for a junior minister 1 

Nevertheless, the custom of the denomination has been to 
preach extemporaneously, though by no means to neglect the 
use of the pen. The English language furnishes no better 
specimens of printed sermons than may be found among those 
of Wesley, Clarke, Sutcliflfe, Watson, Bunting, Punshon, and 
others. 


/ 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


479 


THE FREE SCOTCH CHURCH. 

The practice of ministers in this Church is divided with about 
as much equality as in the Church of England, although its 
greatest preachers, like Guthrie and Duff, at least in their best 
efforts, speak “ without book.” 

Recently Dr. Begg made an effort in the Assembly to officially 
prohibit the reading of sermons by students and young minis¬ 
ters. He was not successful, and has fallen back upon moral 
suasion, urging his views in a book, the title of which is given 
in our list of authors in English. The non-arrival of a copy 
from Edinburgh in time for the insertion of a characteristic 
extract in t^is connection is regretted. Possibly the extract 
may be supplied in future editions. 

AMERICAN CHURCHES. 

UNITARIANS. 

\ • 

It is a matter of history that the most systematic vindication 
of extemporaneous preaching yet published in our language is 
from the pen of the Junior Dr. Ware, of Cambridge. This im¬ 
portant work is well known, and easily accessible. It seems, 
however, to have been more appreciated by other denominations 
than his own, in which it has not had the effect to introduce the 
custom which he so ably advocates. 

CONGREGATIONALISTS. 

Perhaps no American Church has been so generally wedded 
to the habit of reading sermons as have the Congregationalists 
of New England; and yet the New Englander, their ablest expo¬ 
nent, has recently entered warmly into the advocacy of extem¬ 
poraneous preaching. 

The following extracts are from the New Englander, of Feb¬ 
ruary, 1858, and November, 1859 : 

Of the two modes of preaching, as compared with one another, we 
are persuaded that to talk to the people without a manuscript is “ the 
true way,” the best way, as we have so often heard it called by experi¬ 
enced ministers, who regretted, as President Edwards did in his later 
days, that they had not accustomed themselves to it in their own early 
practice. . . . 

A candidate for the ministry has to be warned against extempore 
writ,mg. There is danger of it and danger in it. . . . 

Why should not a young man be trained to think at his tongue’s end 
as his fingers’ end? ... He may as well be educated to preach 


480 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


without reading as to write and read. The self-possession, readiness, 
methodical habit, and command of language which it especially requires 
are most easily and perfectly obtained at the time most favorable to every 
other part of education. 

The theory of the theological seminaries of this denomination 
now is, that the preacher should accustom himself to both modes 
of delivery, usually reading a sermon in the morning and preach¬ 
ing extempore at evening. 


BAPTISTS. 

Professor Ripley indicates his appreciation of extemporaneous 
delivery by inserting Ware’s Hints on the subject at length. 
Nevertheless he says: 

It is clearly advisable for preachers to secure the advantages of each 
method, and the reciprocal influence of the two methods in preventing 
the dangers incident to each, if exclusively used, and in cultivating to 
the highest degree the good tendencies of each. Neither method should 
be used exclusively; both should be used habitually. The pen will 
tend to prevent inexactitude, shallowness, and consequent tameness of 
thought, carelessness, extravagance, and vagueness of expression. So, 
on the other hand, the comparative familiarity, directness, and earnest¬ 
ness to which extemporaneous address is favorable, may correet the 
formality, abstractness, and coolness which a preacher who confines 
himself to written sermons is in danger of contracting. Each method 
may be imperfect without the other; each, if not indispensable, is ex¬ 
tremely favorable to the highest efficiency of the other. 

Dr. Watland, ex-President of Brown University, and author 
of works on Mental and Moral Philosophy, etc., gives his mature 
views on the subject in his recent work on the Ministry of the 
Gospel: 

I cannot leave the consideration of the manner of preaching without 
expressing the opinion that we have greatly erred in substituting read¬ 
ing from a manuscript for direct, unwritten address. If a dissertation 
on some religious subject were uttered without notes, the speaker would 
frequently grow warm in the delivery, and eye meeting eye, he would 
commonly attract the attention of a portion, at least, of an audience. A 
mutual sympathy binds men together when they look into each other’s 
faces; it acts and reacts on both parties ; and the speaker instinctively 
labors to carry the audience along with him. But when an abstract 
dissertation on some not very interesting topic is deliberately read to 
an assembly, the eyes of the speaker being united to his manuscript and 
never meeting those of his audience, the effect upon the hearers must 
be as small as possible. Now, is not the tendency of much of our 
preaching toward this absolute negation of all practical effect ? Do not 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


481 


our audiences commonly leave the house of God as unconcerned about 
the great subject of the soul’s salvation as they entered it? The con¬ 
version of a sinner under a sermon has come to be a very rare occurrence. 
A few are pleased with the style; a few admire the imagery; a few 
suppose it to be profound because they do not understand it; but no 
one is made to feel himself a sinner against God, and no one asks, “ What 
must I do to be saved?” And, alas! if he should ask the question, 
would he find anything in the sermon to answer it ? 

These two methods of preparation for the pulpit tend to awaken dis¬ 
similar states of religious feeling. When we write in a quiet study, we 
may, it is true, and if we believe what we preach we actually do, look up 
to the Holy Spirit for his guidance and direction. But still the tendency 
is apt to be rather to the intellectual than the moral. In writing, we 
strive to present some doctrine clearly, to express it correctly and rhe¬ 
torically, and if we have done this, to be satisfied. We cannot rise to 
that feeling of earnestness which enables us to press home the truth 
which we have presented, directly and affectionately upon the con¬ 
science. We feel that we cannot write what we know we ought to 
my / at least this, I must confess, has been my own experience. Dur¬ 
ing the preparation of the manuscript there is none of that sensibility 
of the presence of an audience that makes a preacher tremble in his 
knees, without which it is said that no one ever spoke well. The ser¬ 
mon is arranged according to the rules, and by this test the writer knows 
that it is a good one; that the audience o’ught to like it; and with this 
he is too prone to be content. He enters the pulpit with more or less 
of this assurance. He has no need to pray for the assistance of the 
Holy Spirit so far as the matter is concerned, for that is all prepared al¬ 
ready. He may pray that it may be received into good hearts, but he 
has no wish that it be different from what it is. He has no fear of 
breaking down, if only his voice and eyesight remain ; for it is all plainly 
written out, to a syllable, before him. He reads it with such animation 
as may be natural to him, or with none at all; looking steadily at his 
manuscript, and rarely or never catching the eyes of his audience. If he 
makes a gesture, it is with his eyes fixed on his paper; one hand on the 
line which he is in danger of losing, and the other sawing the air without 
any kind of significance. When he closes, he perhaps feels that he has 
not succeeded in arresting the attention of the people; he has labored 
hard, but the result has not corresponded with the pains that he has 
taken. Something has been the matter, but he does not know what 
it is. 

On the other hand, let a man know that ho is about to address an 
audience on a subject of infinite importance, looking them directly in 
the eyes, and speaking as man speaketh to man, with the simple design 
of leading them at once to some action which shall affect their destinies 
for eternity. He prayerfully selects a subject which seems best adapted 
to the wants of his people. Looking for the promised aid of the Holy 
Spirit, he endeavors to penetrate its meaning, and discover its applica¬ 
tion to those whom he is to address. His preparation is a constant 

31 


482 


MODE OF DELIVE^. 


intercourse between his spirit and the Spirit of all truth. His object is 
to say precisely what is given him to say by the Master. The style in 
which he shall make known the truth gives him no uneasiness; for as ho 
is accustomed in conversation to use good English, there is no reason 
why he should not use it in the pulpit, and that is all that is required. 
Filled thus with his subject, he comes before his people to deliver his 
message. As he looks around him, and reflects upon the position which 
he holds, and the consequences which may ensue to his hearers and him¬ 
self from the service before him, his heart sinks within him, and he not 
only knows, but feels, that there is no help for him but in God. He 
pleads the promises, and looks up to the Holy Spirit for aid, casting 
aside all desire to please men; and conscious that he has no other inten¬ 
tion than to declare the whole counsel of God, he rises to speak. The 
audience at once perceive that he is deeply in earnest. They look upon 
him with sympathy, such as nothing but unaffected earnestness can 
awaken. Their attention inspires him with confldence, and he proceeds 
in the delivery of his message. Gaining strength as he advances, he 
feels himself at home before his audience ; and when he sits down he is 
conscious that, to the best of his ability, he has made known the whole 
counsel of God. He may frequently, at first, be aware of failure, and 
find that in the agitation of the moment the thoughts which he deemed 
most important escaped from his recollection ; but with every attempt 
the liability of failure diminishes. He acquires the power of thinking 
on his legs. His trembling, agitated reliance on the Holy Spirit is 
changed into habitual, trustful confldence. He never rises in the pulpit 
without an earnest, cheerful hope of producing some immediate practi¬ 
cal effect upon his hearers. Nor is he apt to be disappointed. The 
example of his sincerity and love animates Christians, and attracts the 
attention of the careless; for it is not in man not to be affected by that 
genuine love of souls that shines in the eye and speaks in the tones of 
a faithful and beseeching embassador of Christ. The Spirit speaks 
through him to the hearts of men: saints are established in the faith, 
and sinners are turned to righteousness. 

I, of course, by no means assert that all preachers from manuscript 
are such as I have referred to in the first example, or that all preachers 
without notes are such as I have described in the second. I know well 
that some of our most effective preachers have always used written 
preparation, and that some of our least useful ministers preach extem¬ 
poraneously. I speak not of individual cases, and only insist on the 
tendency of these two modes of preparation. Let it be granted that the 
promises of the Gospel mean anything, and let it be conceded that there 
is any Holy Spirit, and then let any one compare these two methods of 
addressing our fellow-men on the subject of their soul’s salvation, and 
decide which is more likely to become a blessing to the minister himself, 
and which is the more likely to bring a blessing to his hearers. 

I know it is frequently said that the subject on which a minister 
preaches is so important, and it is of so much consequence that men 
should know the exact truth, that we ought not to trust ourselves to 


i/ODE OF DELIVEKY. 483 

speak from tke pulpit without the most carefully written prepa¬ 
ration. 

But let us not be led astray by words; let us look at realities. Do 
written sermons always convey sound theology ? (and by sound theol¬ 
ogy I mean the simple truth revealed to us by our Saviour and his 
apostles.) Do men professing the same sentiments as ourselves never 
read from a manuscript statements of doctrine to which we cannot as¬ 
sent ? It is said we need carefully written preparations ; but how often 
do the most of us deliver from the pulpit carefully written discourses, 
except it be at ordinations, or on some other special occasions? A 
really extemporaneous discourse may be written as well as spoken 
without writing. A large proportion of our written discourses are pre¬ 
pared in a hurry, late on Saturday night, and sometimes between the 
services on the Sabbath, and the thoughts are huddled together with 
little arrangement and less meditation. Is not such a sermon, though 
written^ liable to all the objections commonly raised against extempore 
preaching? Nay, if the same time had been spent in earnest thought, 
would not the (hscourse have been more carefully prepared than by the 
simple process of writing ? Men seem to suppose that what is written 
must, of course, be sound sense. I confess I have not always found it 
so ; and I have sometimes been tempted to ask. Would a preacher be 
willing to look his audience in the face, and utter such commonplace 
truisms as he delivers from a manuscript, looking on his paper? 

I object to the custom of addressing an audience from a manuscript, 
for several reasons. 

In the first place, the tendency of habitually using written preparations 
is to the formation of a written instead of a spoken style ; to cultivate a 
habit of writing for the press instead of uttering our thoughts to an 
audience. We thus form the habit of using abstract terms, speaking of 
the most important truths in generalities which men only dimly under¬ 
stand, and which no one applies to himself. It is not the language of 
ordinary thought or ordinary conversation; and it is as if we addressed 
them in a foreign tongue, w'hich they only imperfectly understand. 
What the effect of such preaching must be, or rather how small must be 
its effect, may easily be imagined. The preacher can rarely be deeply 
interested in it himself, and it cannot be expected that he will interest 
others. 

Every one knows that the power of a speaker over an audience de¬ 
pends almost entirely on the tones of emotion. This was what the 
ancient orator meant when he said that the first and second and third 
requisite essential to a public speaker was delivery. But emotion, 
though it commence in the bosom of the speaker, is sustained and 
deepened and rendered more intense by the reciprocal action of the 
speaker and audience upon each other. The earnestness of the speaker, 
shown in the eyes, the gesture, the tones of the voice, arouses the audi¬ 
ence to sympathy. Their eyes answer to his eyes; their breathless 
attention shows that every tone of his voice thrills their bosoms with 
emotion; their whole expression reacts upon him, and a mutual sym- 


484 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


pathy binds them together; and he feels that his heart and theirs are 
beating in unison. -Indignation, sarcasm, pity, sorrow, yearning to create 
in them the same feeling which agitates him, expressed more powerfully 
in the tones of the voice than in the words which he utters, sway the 
audience at his will; and at the close it seems as if they all had but one 
soul, and that the soul of him who has addressed them. Such was the 
preaching of Whitefleld. Garrick, after hearing him, declared that he 
would give a hundred pounds to be able to utter the simple exclamation 
“ 0 1” as Whitefleld uttered it. 



"—This power of expressing emotion by the tones of the voice, we may 
remark in passing, cannot be acquired by art. It must arise from the 
earnest, honest feeling of the speaker, reflected back from the audience 
before him. A man may rehearse his sermon alone; he may determine 
how this or that passage should be littered, or what gesture should ac¬ 
company the utterance ; he may do it again and again before a mirror; 
he may blacken his manuscript with every kind of sign that shall indi¬ 
cate the expression to be given to the words; but it is all a failure. 
Nature is not so easily deceived. The hearers see tlmt it is all very 
elaborately prepared, and very accurately delivered; but somehow or 
other they are not moved, and it all seems like a boy speaking a piece. 

To return. It must, I think, be evident that the tendency of habitual 
reading is to annihilate the true tones of emotion in a speaker. His 
eyes and those of the audience never meet. They look up, and all is 
blank, for he is looking steadfastly on something else. The tendency is 
for him gradually to subside into a quiet reader, delivering plainly, and 
without emotion, what he has prepared with care and attention. This 
is the more common case. If, however, he rises above this, and is of a 
more earnest character, he acquires a regular tone of apparent emotion, 
a rise and fall of the voice at regular intervals, in which every sentence 
is uttered. The important and the unimportant are both pitched on the 
same key, and set to the same tune. The tones of real emotion have all 
died out, and nothing remains but sentence after sentence, whether 
narrative, hortatory, or emotional, beginning, continuing, and ending 
with the same pauses, inflections, and emphasis, which no feeling of the 
soul seems really to pervade. To this kind of delivery, I think, reading 
generally tends, especially in young men; but it is liable to decline, with 
advancing years, into that which I have just referred to. 

I do not, of course, deny that we have frequently eloquent readers. I 
rejoice to say that I have listened to many myself, though it was fre¬ 
quently the eloquence of high intellectual rather than of moral ex¬ 
citement. Chalmers was a close reader, and never preached without 
producing great effect. His soul was always on Are, and he threw it 
wholly into all he either did or said. It was not in his nature to be 
prosy. Yet a gentleman who was in the habit of hearing him has as¬ 
sured me that his extempore discourses, delivered to operatives in the 
outskirts of Glasgow, were far more effective, and more truly eloquent, 
than the sermons which he delivered with so much applause in the 
Tron Church of that city. 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


485 


During my ministry in Boston I contracted the habit of '^v’riting and 
reading my sermons. Though I did this at the suggestion of my peo¬ 
ple, I consider it as one of the great errors of my life. This error I 
should have escaped if I had thought more of moral preparation for the 
pulpit, if my mind had been more habitually devout, and I had eulti- 
vated a more humble relianee on the Spirit of God. 

When, a few years since, I was called temporarily to the exercise of 
the pastoral oflftce, I endeavored in some measure to obey the precepts 
which I have here inculcated upon others. I at once laid aside every 
other labor, and confined my reading almost exclusively to the Bible 
and to works on devotional or practical religion. To the measure of my 
physical ability I preached the Gospel, both publicly and from house to 
house, seeking to hold personal conversation on the subject of religion, 
as far as it was possible, with every member of the whole congregation. 
The Lord in mercy gave me such success as seemed good to him ; and 
though my imperfections were many, and my practice fell very far short 
of my duty as a minister, I can truly say that no part of my ministerial 
life was so full of enjoyment as this, and upon no part of it do I look 
back with so much satisfaction. I do firmly believe that, to gain victory 
over one’s self, over the love of reputation, position, or emolument, to 
consider all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ 
Jesus our Lord, and in the face of all men to preach simply what the 
word o‘f God teaches, to preach that only, and to do this day after day, 
no matter what men may think of us, is the only way to secure a happy 
and successful ministry, to be happy in our own souls from the presence 
of Christ abiding in us, and at last to hear his voice, “Well done, good 
and faithful servant, enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.” 

PRESBYTERIANS, OLD SCHOOL. 

The following preamble and resolution are recorded among 
the Acts of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
in the United States, of 1849, and define the official position of 
that body: 

Whereas^ The General Assembly has reason to believe that the prac¬ 
tice of reading sermons in the pulpit is on the increase among our min¬ 
isters, and being decidedly of opinion that it is not the most effectual 
and acceptable method of preaching the Gospel; therefore 

Resolved, That we do earnestly repeat the recommendation of th^ 
General Assembly of 1841, that this practice be discontinued, as far as 
practicable; and afi'ectionately exhort our younger ministers and can¬ 
didates to adopt a different method, as more scriptural and effective, and 
more generally acceptable to God’s people. 

The doctrine of the above resolution is ably enforced in a small 
book published in Pliiladelphia, entitled “Hints on Preaching,” 
which contains the following: 


486 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


The practice of reading discourses is an innovation i/n the Gongrega~ 
tional and Freshyterian Churches in our country. 

The Pilgrim Fathers of New England, when they came to our country 
and planted Churches, never read their sermons / the manner was un¬ 
known until nearly a century afterward. Those men of God, ripe schol¬ 
ars and able divines, who were so eminently useful, the Hookers, the 
Shepards, the Eliots, the Coltons, the Mathers, and their immediate 
successors, never practiced this mode of preaching. It is not until 
1708 that we hear of it. From a sermon of Solomon Stoddard, on “ the 
inexcusableness of neglecting the worship of God,” preached that year, 
we learn that a very few preachers had adopted this “ new methoda 
method which he strongly disapproves, against which he warns the 
ministers, and the sad consequences of which he predicts should it ever 
become general. But the warning was unheeded; the practice contin¬ 
ued and increased until the time of Edwards, when it generally pre¬ 
vailed. That great man read his sermons, and read them closely; and 
considering what an eminently successful preacher he w'as, and what a 
multitude of souls he was the instrument of saving, his example has 
often been quoted in favor of the method. But he lived deeply to regret 
it., and to bear his testimony against the whole practice of reading. 
“Although,” says his biographer. Dr. Hopkins, “he was wont to read 
so considerable a part of what he delivered, yet he was far from think¬ 
ing this the best way of preaching in general, and looked upon using 
his notes as a deficiency and infirmity / and in the latter part of his life 
he was inclined to think it had been better if he had never been accus¬ 
tomed to use his notes at all.” 

It is scarcely necessary to add that the habit of reading sermons was 
introduced at a later period in the Presbyterian Church. Our fathers, 
though very careful in their preparations, pursued not this method. 
The Blairs, the Finleys, the Davieses, the Tennents, the Witherspoons, 
and the many others who were such luminaries in our Church, adopted 
that “ better method ” recommended by the Assembly. Davies, it is 
true, read his sermons after he came to Princeton; and it would appear 
from his diary, occasionally did it in England ; but in Virginia, whore 
he principally labored, and where he was most useful, according to 
universal tradition, lianded down from those who attended his ministry, 
he preached memoriter. It is true, also, that Gilbert Tennent, after he 
came to Philadelphia, read his sermons; but the people, even his own 
flock, never regarded him as so useful a preacher as he was before, when 
1|^ adopted a different method. Many now living can remember when 
the venerable Rogers, with his colleagues, preached without reading; 
and when, in consequence of the influence which he exerted in the city 
where he labored, a sermon was seldom read in the pulpit of any Pres¬ 
byterian church. 

Those who in different ages have 'been raised up by God to accomplish 
some^ great worTc., and have been peculiarly successful., have almost invari¬ 
ably preached without reading. 

We have already mentioned the manner of the reformers, and of the 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


487 


earlier and later Puritans. Was it not so when evangelical truth was 
revived in the Church of England? At the beginning of the eighteenth 
century, at how low an ebb was spiritual religion in that Church ! 
While the externals of piety were defended, its essential doctrines were 
neglected; justification by faith and the necessity of inward grace were 
entirely overlooked. Too many of the clergy were wholly ignorant of 
the Gospel, and satisfied with giving to the people a brief moral essay, 
instead of preaching Jesus Christ and him crucified; the eonsequenee of 
whieh was a prevalence of spiritual deadness throughout the whole 
Church. In these cireumstanees Providenee raised up Whitefield and 
Wesley, and their eotemporaries Eomaine and Berridge, the Hills and 
Ilervey, and a host of others, most of whom, with a glowing zeal, trav¬ 
ersed the whole kingdom, scattering as widely as possible the seeds of 
truth in the uneultivated soil around them. It is pleasing to see these 
apostolic and self-denying men thus going out and preaching the Gospel 
everywhere, in prisons and in fields, to sailors and to eolliers, to persons 
of every class who would hear them. The world around them w'as in 
darkness, and they longed to impart to it some rays of light; they saw 
sin everywhere powerful, and their souls were stirred up within them to 
destroy it. But in what manner did they preach ? Many of them wrote 
their sermons, which are now perused with interest and profit. But did 
they read them? We know that they did not, from the favor with 
whieh they were received by the people, the sueeess that everywhere 
attended their labors, and the thousands and tens of thousands that 
were awakened and converted under their ministry. 

In our own country, who, in later times, seemed to be a more signal 
example of ministerial faithfulness than Payson ? a more striking pattern 
of zeal for the salvation of souls ? an instrument of the conversion of 
more souls to God? What is his testimony? In writing to a young 
clergyman he says: “On Thursday evening and Sabbath morning I 
preach without notes,” (that is, without reading,) “but generally form 
a skeleton 'of my sermons, and I find that when any good is done it is 
my extempore sermons that do it;” that is, sermons that have been pre¬ 
pared and preached from a skeleton. 

Who, more recently, has excited greater attention than M’Cheyne ? 
Who acquired a higher estimation in the Churches of Scotland? Whose 
death, at the early age of thirty, was so lamented and deplored as a 
public loss ? When we see the vast numbers that attended his preach¬ 
ing, the fervor with which he sought the salvation of them all, the sim¬ 
plicity, fullness, and pointedness with which he presented the whole 
Gospel, the wonderful efficacy which the Spirit gave to the truth thus 
announced, who would think it necessary to ask if he read his sermons ? 
Who does not expect such a testimony on this subject as his biographer 
gives? “From the very beginning of his ministry he reprobated the 
custom oi reading sermons^ believing that to do so exceedingly weakened 
the freedom and natural fervor of the messenger in delivering the mes¬ 
sage. His custom was to impress on his memory the substance of what he 
had beforehand carefully written, and then to speak as he found liberty.” 


488 


MODE OF DELIVERY. 


PRESBYTERIANS, NEW SCHOOL. 

Dr. T. H. Skinner, translator of Yinet’s Homiletics, formerly 
Professor of Sacred Rhetoric at Andover, and now of the Union 
Theological Seminary in Hew York, published in the Presbyte¬ 
rian Review of January, 1864, a very valuable article on the 
Theory of Preaching, from which the following paragraphs are 
in point: 

Valuable as well-written discourses are in other respects, their chief 
advantage, ultimately, both to the preacher and his hearers, is from the 
influence they have on the preparation to preach extemporaneously. 
Certain it is, that the ideal of excellence in preaching is unattainable 
when the delivery is from full notes. Extemporizing in itself is the best 
way of speaking; the natural way; the only speaking, indeed, in the 
strict sense of the term. Each of the other ways—reading, writing, 
reproducing from a manuscript—has somewhat in it which nature would 
hardly suggest or allow in such an occupation as that of addressing^ 
speaking to, an assembly. A great master in the ministry of the word 
has said :* “ There is too little of living preaching in your kingdom 
[England]; sermons there have been mostly read or recited. True and 
faithful servants of God ought not to wish to shine in the ornaments of 
rhetoric, or effect great things thereby; but the Spirit of God should be 
echoed by their voice, and so give birth to virtue. No possible danger 
must be permitted to abridge the liberty of the Spirit of God, or prevent 
his free course among those he has adorned with his graces for the edi¬ 
fying of the Church.” 

This remark of Calvin should be as a loud warning to preachers when 
writing discourses for the pulpit. Both in preparing and preaching 
from manuscripts there is special danger of abridging the liberty of the 
Spirit in his part of the work. From neither, as we have before in¬ 
sisted, is his peculiar agency to be for a moment abstracted. Writing is 
the preacher’s business; he puts himself in it, if he does it, in earnest; 
and he is very apt, from the nature of the operation, to be in it by him¬ 
self^ and to do it in too exclusive self-reliance, and'when he has done it 
to restrict himself to what he has written, ignoring the Spirit’s prov¬ 
ince and right in the actual work of preaching even to the end. He is 
in peril of doing this in the other way of preaching also; but his liability 
to it is special when he uses a completely written discourse. And he 
knows not what his preaching may lose if he does abridge the Spirit’s 
liberty in it. By far the best part of preaching is often from unantici¬ 
pated assistances of the Holy Spirit. 


* Letter of John Calvin to Somerset. 




MODE OF DELIVERY. 


489 


METHODISTS. 

The theory and practice of Methodists, both in the old and 
the new world, has been so uniformly in favor of extemporane¬ 
ous preaching, that quotations, beyond those at the close of 
Chapter XIII, are deemed unnecessary. 

If it were 'desirable to multiply authorities to any greater ex¬ 
tent on the topics now under consideration, an almost limitless 
number of pertinent quotations might be gathered from the 
memoirs of distinguished ministers. 

Whoever will consult that valuable work, Sprague’s “Annals 
of the American Pulpit,” or a review of the first six volumes of 
it in the Methodist Quarterly of July, 1860, will find that even 
in denominations where the reading of sermons has been sup¬ 
posed to be the established law of custom, all the most distin¬ 
guished and truly powerful preachers have cultivated habits of 
extemporaneous speech, and have accomplished their deepest 
impressions and largest usefulness by means of it. 

From a classification of the great preachers of the denomina¬ 
tions then under review, it appears that Davenport, Bellamy, 
Huntington, Backus, Spring, Dwight, Pay son, Hettleton, and 
others among Gongregationalists; Waddell, Turner, Alexander, 
Mason, Baxter, Romeyn, Kollock, Blackburn, Laurie, Rice, 
Lamed, Kelson, Carroll, Potts, and Wilson among Presbyteri¬ 
ans; Whitefield, Jarratt, Pilmoor, R. C. Moore, Henshaw, Bedell, 
and Keilh Episcopalians; and Stillman, Manning, Smith, 

Baldwin, Broaddus, Maxcey, Staughton, Cone, Maginnis, Tucker, 
and Rhees among Baptists^ were accustomed to preach extem¬ 
poraneously, and that the best results of their labors followed 
that style of preaching. 

Among the great preachers of the Methodist Churches, either 
in Europe or America, it is not known that one was ever an ha¬ 
bitual reader of sermons. 

The Kew Englander, of February, 1858, truthfully remarked 
that “ Chalmers is the only preacher or orator of any kind who 
over swayed large miscellaneous audiences by reading his dis¬ 
courses.” It is extremely doubtful whether he could have done 
it in any other country than Scotland. 


490 


DEVOTIONAL PARAPHRASE. 


D. 

EXAMPLE 

OP THE CLASSIFICATION AND PARAPHRASE OF SCRIPTURE 
UNDER THE VARIOUS HEADS OF PRAYER. 

INVOCATION. 

Rev. xix, 16. Thou King of kings and Lord of lords. 

2 Kings xix, 15. 0 Lord God of Israel, whicL dwellest be¬ 

tween the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all 
the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. 

Isa. Ivii, 15. Thou high and lofty One that inhabitest eternity, 
whose name is Holy, who dwellest in the high and holy place 
with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive 
the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite 
ones. 

1 Tim. vi, 15,16. Thou blessed and only Potentate, the King 
of kings and Lord of lords, who only hast immortality, dwelling 
in the light which no man can approach unto.; whom no man 
hath seen, nor can see. 

James i, 17. Thou Father of lights, from whom doth come 
every good and perfect gift, with whom is no variableness, 
neither shadow of turning. 

Psa. xxxiii, 13. Who lookest from heaven, and beholdest all 
the sons of men. 

Psa. Ixxxix, 7. Who art greatly to be feared in the assembly 
of the saints, and to he had in reverence of all them that’ are 
about thee. 

Psa. civ, 3. Who layest the beams of thy chambers in the 
waters; who makest the clouds thy chariot; who walkest upon 
the wings of the wind; who makest thine angels spirits, and thy 
ministers a flame of Are. 

Psa. Ixv, 2. O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all 
flesh come. 

Psa. Ixv, 5. 0 God of our salvation, who art the confldence 

of all the ends of the earth, and of them that are afar off upon 
the sea. 

Psa. xlvi, 1. Thou, O God, art our refuge and strength, a very 
present help in trouble. 


DEVOTIONAL PARAPHRASE. 491 

Psa. xxxvi, 5. Thy mercy is in the heavens; and thy faith¬ 
fulness reacheth unto the clouds. 

Psa. xxxiii, 18. Thine eye is upon them that fear thee, and 
upon them that hope in thy mercy. 

ADORATION. 

Psa. lxV, 1. Praise waiteth for thee, 0 God, in Zion; and 
unto thee shall the vow he performed. 

Neh. ix, 5, 6. Blessed he thy glorious name, which is exalted 
above all blessing and praise. Thou, even thou, art Lord alone; 
thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their 
host; the earth, and all things that are therein; the seas, and 
all that is therein; and thou preservest them all, and the host of 
heaven worshipeth thee. 

Psa. cxxxviii, 2. We will worship toward thy holy temple, 
and praise thy name for tliy lovingkindness and for thy truth ; 
for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name. 

Psa. xcii, 1. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, 
and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High. 

Psa. viii, 1. O Lord our Lord, how excellent is thy name in 
all the earth! who hast set thy glory above the heavens. 

Psa. ix, 1. We will praise thee, 0 Lord, with our whole heart; 
we will show forth all thy marvelous works. 

Psa. civ, 1, 2. O Lord our God, thou art very great; thou 
art clothed with honor and majesty; thou coverest thyself with 
light as a garment. 

Micah vii, 18. Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth 
iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his 
heritage; who retaineth not his anger for ever, because he de- 
lighteth in mercy ? 


THANKSGIVING. 

Psa. xl, 5. Many, 0 Lord our God, are thy wonderful works 
which thou hast done, and thy thoughts’which are to us-ward; 
they cannot he reckoned up in order unto thee; if we would 
declare and speak of them they are more than can he numbered. 

Psa. cxxxix, 17. How precious also are thy thoughts unto 
us, 0 God! how great is the sum of them! 

Psa. cxvi, 12-14. What shall we render unto the Lord for 
all his benefits toward us? We will take the cap of salvation. 


492 


DEVOTIONAL PARAPHRASE. 


and call upon the name of the Lord; we will pay our vows unto 
the Lord now, in the presence of all his people. 

Psa. cxxxvi, 1. We will give thanks unto the Lord, for he is 
good, for his mercy endureth for ever. 

Col. i, 13-15. We give thanks unto the Father, which hath 
made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in 
light, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and 
hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son ; in whom 
we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of 
sins. 

2 Pet. i, 8, 4. Whose divine power hath given unto us all 
things that pertain unto life and godliness through the knowledge 
of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue; whereby are 
given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by 
these we might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped 
the corruption that is in the world through lust. 

CONFESSION. 

Psa. li, 1-4. Have mercy upon us, O God, according to thy 
lovingkindness; according unto the multitude of thy tender mer¬ 
cies blot out our transgressions. 

For we acknowledge our transgressions, and our sin is ever 
before us. Against thee, thee only, have we sinned, and done 
this evil in thy sight, 

Gen. xviii, 27. We are but dust and ashes. 

Gen. xxxii, 10. We are not w’orthy of the least of all thy 
mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy 
servants. 

Psa. cxliv, 3, 4. Lord, what is man, that thou takest kiiowl- ’ 
edge of him, or the son of man, that thou makest account of him! 
Man is like unto vanity; his days are as a shadow that passcth 
away. 

Isa. i, 4. We are a sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, 
a seed of evil doers, children that are corrupters, that have for¬ 
saken the Lord, and provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger. 

Eph. ii, 2, 3. We are children of disobedience, among whom 
also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our 
flesh, fulfllling the desires of our flesh and of our mind. 

Rom. vii, 21. When we would do good, evil is present with 
us. (24.) Who shall deliver us from the body of this death ? 
(6.) That we may serve God in newness of spirit? 


DEVOTIONAL PARAPHRASE. 


493 


PETITION AND SUPPLICATION. 

Psa. xxvii, 7. Hear, O Lord, when we cry unto thee with 
our voice; have mercy also upon us, and answer us. 

Psa. Iv, ]. Give ear to our prayer, 0 God, and hide not thy¬ 
self from our supplication. 

Psa. cxli, 2. Let our prayer be set forth before thee as in 
cense, and the lifting up of our hands as the evening sacrifice. 

Isa. xliv, 22. Blot out as a thick cloud our transgressions, and 
as a cloud our sins; and return unto us, for thou hast redeem¬ 
ed us. 

Psa. li, 6-10. Behold, thou desirest truth in the inward parts, 
and in the hidden .part thou shalt make us to know wisdom. 
Purge us with hyssop, and we shall be clean; wash us, and we 
shall be whiter than snow. Make us to hear joy and gladness, 
that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Create in 
us a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within us. 

Col. ii, 13. Quicken us who were dead in our sins, having 
forgiven us all our trespasses. 

Zech. xiii, 1. Lead us to the fountain that was opened to the 
house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and 
for uncleanness. 

Hosea xiv, 2. Take away all iniquity, and receive us gracious¬ 
ly. (4.) Heal our backsliding, and love us freely. 

Rom. V, 1-5. Being justified by faith, may we have peace 
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ; by whom also we 
have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and re¬ 
joice in hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but may we 
glory in tribulations also; knowing that tribulation worketh 
patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope 
rnaketh not ashamed. 

Eph. iii, 17-19. That Christ may dwell in our hearts by 
faith; that we, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able 
to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, 
and depth, and height, and to know the love of God which 
passeth knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fullness 
of God. 

Eph. i, 17, 18. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the 
Father of glory, may give unto us the spirit of wisdom and rev¬ 
elation in the knowledge of him ; the eyes of our understanding 
being enlightened, that we may know what is the hope of his 


494 


DEVOTIONAL PARAPHKASE. 


calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the 
saints. 

Eph. i, 13, 14. That we may be sealed with that Holy Spirit 
of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance until the 
redemption of the purchased possession unto the praise of his 
glory. 

Heb. iii, 14. That, being made partakers of Christ, we may 
hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end; 
(iv, 9,) laboring to enter into the rest that remaineth to the 
people of God. 


SELF-DEDICATION. 

Psa. xxvii, 4. One thing have we desired of the Lord; that 
will we seek after; that we may dwell in the house of the Lord 
all the days of our life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to 
inquire in his temple. 

Psa. cxix, 12. Blessed art thou, O Lord; teach us thy stat¬ 
utes. (14-16.) We have rejoiced in the way of thy testimonies 
as much as in all riches. We will meditate in thy precepts, and 
have respect unto thy ways. We will deliglit ourselves in thy 
statutes, and will not forget thy word. 

BLESSING AND PRAISE. 

1 Chron. xxix, 11. Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the 
power, and the glory, and the victory, and the majesty; for all 
that is in the heaven and in the earth is thine; thine is the 
kingdom, O Lord, and thou art exalted as head above all. 

1 Chron. xxix, 13. Now,‘therefore, our God, we thank thee, 
and praise thy glorious name. 

1 Chron. xvi, 25. Great art thou, O Lord, and greatly to be 
praised; thou art also to be feared above all gods. For all the 
gods of the people are idols; but thou Lord, madest the heav¬ 
ens. Glory and honor are in thy presence; strength and glad¬ 
ness are in his place. 

1 Chron. xvi, 29. We would give unto the Lord the glory 
due unto his name, bring an oflfering and come before him, and 
worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. 

Psa. cxlv, 10. All thy works shall praise thee, 0 Lord, and 
thy saints shall bless thee. (2.) Every day will we bless thee, 
and we will praise thy name for ever and ever. 


DEVOTIONAL PARAPHRASE. 495 

Psa. cxlv, 3. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; 
and his greatness is unsearchable. 

Psa. cxlv, 21. Our mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord; 
and let all flesh bless his holy name for ever and ever. 

1 Tim. i, 17. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, 
the only wise God, be honor and glory for ever and ever. 

Rev. V, 12, 13. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to re¬ 
ceive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, 
and glory, and blessing. Therefore would we join with every 
creature which is in heaven or on the earth, saying. Blessing, 
and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon • 
the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever. 

Eph. iii, 20, 21. Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding 
abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the 
power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the Church by 
Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen. 


THE END. 




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